


My Destiny is Paid For

by QueenoftheBritons



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Escorts, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Emotionally Constipated Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Escort Service, First Kiss, Good Morgana (Merlin), M/M, Merlioske-friendly, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:26:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 50,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23052430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenoftheBritons/pseuds/QueenoftheBritons
Summary: Merlin, a struggling PhD student, part-time apprentice in Gaius' pharmacy, has added escort to his professional work. Arthur, a struggling son in his father's company, recent ex, needs someone by his side for a company event.Neither can shake the other off. Maybe it's for the best.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 233
Kudos: 466





	1. Ready To Battle?

**Author's Note:**

> A very random AU which was inspired by the earlier fic from thecheekydragon called The Escort - would recommend. 
> 
> Updates will hopefully be frequent because I'm enjoying this AU, but as a struggling student myself, I can't promise regular updates, just that I will get chapters to you as soon as!
> 
> Please enjoy, and kudos/reviews keep me alive :)

Arthur was flustered. Not that he would admit it to anybody, but he was. He was busy running errands for his father for the charity event that evening, but his mind was on other things. Other _people_ , really. Mainly _person_ , but thanks to Morgana and Guinevere, another continued to creep into his mind now.

The first brought the most unpleasant feelings. Richard, his ex-partner, was on his mind. They had broken up a few months ago now, and Arthur could honestly say he was over him. Honestly. Really. Totally. Unfortunately, most people didn’t believe him, and he even had a terrible time convincing himself. He had been working on it though, and he believed he was getting there. That was, until he found out Richard was attending the charity event, too.

Arthur, who worked in his father’s business – despite his protests – had met Richard at the company. They had hit it off instantly, and even though Arthur had never thought himself to be capable of a long-term relationship, that is where they went, for a year. Arthur was proud of himself, going from one-night stands to committed in a short space of time. Richard, however, apparently didn’t share his positivity.

 _“Arthur, you’re not serious about_ anything _.”_

 _“That’s not true,” shaking his head, he vehemently rejected what Richard was saying. “I’m serious about_ you _!”_

_“As sweet as that sentiment is, it doesn’t mean anything.”_

_Arthur spluttered, speechless. How could he explain what it meant, to a man clearly devoid of emotion?_

_“You’re not serious about your career, your future.”_

_“A career isn’t everything.”_

_“How can I build a future with someone who doesn’t see one?”_

_“I_ do _see one, with you!”_

_“But nothing else.”_

He should have listened to Morgana and Gwen. They had warned him. Playing over their final conversation, he realised what an idiot he was. All the talk about careers, he should have seen the ambition in Richard. That he was willing to do anything to get to the top. Or _anyone_. Having your father head of the company may have had its perks, but most of the time, it came with employees wanting something from you. Richard finally exploded when he realised Arthur didn’t know what he wanted from him, because he was naïve, because he loved Richard, because he didn’t care about _the damn company_.

Shaking the thoughts away, he shuddered, taking a sip of his coffee. His mind wandered to the second person nagging at his thoughts, a stranger he knew only by the name of Colin. When the ladies had told him about the escort, they hadn’t given him any clue what the man looked like, nothing. Only the basics, so he wouldn’t be able to nit-pick and refuse the date. He wasn’t sure he wanted the date, but he wanted support. Morgana would be at the event, but they both knew how their father undermined her. It was best to get someone else in, a fresh face.

His thoughts suddenly disappeared as he felt someone slamming into his side, his brain, having been too occupied to see the oncoming threat, was too slow to react as his coffee – his _boiling hot_ coffee poured over his shirt. Ignoring the bumbling apologies of the man now picking up whatever he had dropped, Arthur flicked his hands away from him as his now empty cup rolled down the path.

“You _idiot,_ ” he heard himself speaking aggravatedly, stunning the other man into silence as they both took in Arthur’s now drenched shirt. Stepping to the side to get a better view, he felt something crunch underneath his foot, causing the other man to grimace, but Arthur didn’t care to think about that. “Why don’t you watch where you’re going!”

“What?” His assailant blinked a few times, probably having difficulty processing what Arthur had just said. He looked like a simpleton and based on the way his mouth continued to open and shut like a fish, Arthur figured it was not an unlikely assumption. “You walked backwards, into _me_!”

“No, no, no, this was your doing.” Arthur stared at the coffee cup which had no stopped rocking. “I needed that drink.”

“And I need that medication you keep standing on, your prat!”

Following the man’s eyes, Arthur spared a casual glance at the box he stood on. An ounce of sympathy spread through him, but he was still annoyed about his coffee. “Perhaps you should have been watching where you were going.”

He had expected the attacker to put up some fight, but after he sputtered and grumbled a “get off it then!” the man huffed on his way. Arthur felt a little disappointment, he had been in the mood to argue with someone since he woke up.

* * *

Merlin was in quite an irritated mood. All morning he had been running around for Gaius, delivering orders, collecting orders, and even cleaning the pharmacy – which he was sure had not been in Gaius’ original job proposal. His other job was not helping his mood much, either. February was usually a quiet month. Of course, there was Valentine’s Day, and if it fell on a weekday, he would usually get a client on the day and the weekend. Still, it was only a couple of days’ work, nothing more. Plus, it came with the unfortunate bonus that because he usually dealt with desperate clients around that time, they usually drank more and forgot the boundaries of his work. He had to take any bookings he could, though, because his PhD funding and only went so far. Gaius paid him with a room, but he still refused to live there rent free. The rent was low, but that on top of other bills and food, bookings were a necessity.

Thankfully, something had come through for him that evening. It was a charity event for a business, and he would be accompanying the son of the head of the company. _How exciting!_ he half grinned, half grimaced, wondering how typical this son lived up to the stereotypical rich, first-in-line son. From the information he got from the ones who booked him, he appeared on the surface to be a normal guy with normal problems. The reason Merlin had been hired was because his date, Arthur Pendragon, had an ex-boyfriend attending the same event. Arthur suffered from an allergy to eggs, but sometimes didn’t take enough care to prevent an attack, so Merlin was going to have to play the attentive partner. Luckily, from his part-time training with Gaius, he knew what to do if either of them forgot to check if any meal on the menu contained egg, and he could take some tablets just in case. The one thing Merlin was not very surprised at was the fact that this Arthur did not want to follow in his father’s footsteps and take over the family business when the time came. That was rather typical of sons in wealthy families, but Merlin would be confident in betting that Arthur being attracted to the same sex probably did not help the fractured relationship he had with his father. It was times like this he was glad he had his mother and Gaius, two of the most caring people in the world. It helped also that Gaius mostly was not bothered as long as he got his chores done.

Fixing the bow tie on his suit despite it being perfect, he finally smacked his arms to his sides, finalising his preparations for the evening. He hoped this Arthur wasn’t handsy. He had had enough of the clients who continually groped him. Other escorts offered that sort of service, and Merlin didn’t judge them, but it was not his style. Knowing his strengths and his weaknesses, he knew he was definitely better at being a date than anything more. It had surprised him at first that it was more of the older clients who could not understand this, but speaking to Lance, a friend who had recommended the work, he was told that they were like that because they were used to it. In earlier times, harder times, more escorts had offered it than not.

Throwing on a slimming coat and bracing himself, he left, ready to do battle.


	2. Fate's Game

“He’s here!” Morgana sang, too cheerful for what was most likely going to be a dreadful evening. “Hurry up, Arthur.”

Arthur grunted, fixing his suit for the fifth time. He was hardly the self-conscious type, but this evening was going to be hell. He had, for once, consulted with Morgana and Gwen on what to wear, unaware of the protocol that came with an event your ex was attending.

 _“You have to look your_ best, _” Morgana told him confidently, Gwen nodding strongly in agreement._

_“And if you look your best, you’ll feel more confident.” Gwen smiled sweetly, the smile Arthur had come to associate with her wishful thinking attitude. “It’s like armour,”_

_“Exactly,” Morgana agreed, pulling a suit from his wardrobe now after having trashed the rest of it. “Richard played with you, so he can’t know he hurt you.”_

_“Why?” Arthur, who had been taught by his father to try and ignore his emotions, just couldn’t think like that. His heart too often got the better of him._

_“Arthur,” Gwen stroked his shoulder soothingly, “I know you don’t want to hear it, but… Richard isn’t the caring type.”_

_“She’s right,” Morgana turned to face him, wearing an unusual sympathetic smile, “and if you told him he hurt you, he would probably feel nothing, or he would feel glad.”_

* * *

“Yes, he’s just getting ready,” he heard Morgana coo from the other room, clearly pleased with her choice of escort. _Oh God,_ he thought, what had he been roped into?

Listening to the mumblings from the other room, trying to catch anything said or hint of an accent, he was anxious about leaving the safety of his bedroom for whatever was awaiting him out there.

“Arthur!”

It seemed his sister was not going to leave him to gather his thoughts for a second this evening, maybe for the best. Bracing himself, he rolled his shoulders back in a casual movement, hoping for it to rub off on him. It worked a little.

“Don’t worry, Morgana, here I am, no need to keep going-” pausing, Arthur stopped in the doorway, staring at the man who had just stood to greet him. The not-so-strange stranger looked just as shocked to see him, an expression which quickly turned to anger.

“ _You_!” Arthur was being pointed at now, by a man who, although shared the face of the stranger who bumped into him that morning, hardly resembled the uncomposed brute.

“What?” Morgana, still sat on the sofa but was now leaning forwards looking at the pair, “you two know each other?”

Arthur heard himself scoff, “he’s the one who ruined my shirt.”

Morgana sighed, bringing a hand to her face, leaving Arthur disgruntled that she wasn’t as annoyed as she should have been.

“You’re the one who ruined my day.” The escort, Colin, threw his hands up.

Arthur frowned, crossing his arms, “you should have been looking.”

“Boys,” Morgana heaved herself up from the sofa to mediate, Arthur aware she was already sick of the argument brewing. “The shirt can be fixed,” she spoke to Arthur as if he were a child, and he, being the mature adult he was, stuck his bottom lip out a little. “I’m not sure about your day,” she turned to Colin, speaking more seriously, “but if there’s no real issue except ‘who bumped into who’-”

“It was him, he bumped into me,” Colin interrupted, making Morgana re-evaluate his maturity level.

“I assume,” Morgana continued as if she had not been interrupted, “we are good to go?”

There was a moment’s pause on all sides, Colin hmm-ing, contemplating what he should do. Arthur took his presence as a sign that he should not even attend this event, but unfortunately fate liked to play unfairly with his life, and Colin eventually – begrudgingly – agreed.

* * *

On leaving the house, Colin, with an ounce of annoyance, began perfecting his doting-boyfriend act. Arthur wondered how long he had been doing this; based on what the booking had cost, he must have been doing it long enough to be quite the professional, but his appearance suggested he could not have been doing it for over five years. He would have asked him, but he wasn’t sure if he could. Best just to get the evening over with as quickly as possible.

“Freya told you my boundaries?” Colin asked as they got comfortable in the car, sitting awkwardly beside each other. Arthur regretted that Morgana had agreed to arrive with their father, staring out of the window as he wished for her company, despite how frustrating she could be sometimes.

“Yes,” Arthur nodded, “no touching, kissing, anything of that nature.” Waggling his eyebrows, he teased the man, “I think we’ve had enough _contact_ for today, perhaps you should have followed your own rules this morning.” Winking, he smirked. Maybe he could have fun annoying his escort, he was paying for his company anyway.

“I am not having this argument all night,” Colin groaned, knuckles white as he gripped the steering wheel. “Neither of us were looking, you dropped your coffee, my medication went everywhere – end of.”

Oh, the pills. Arthur had forgotten about them. The pang of sympathy he felt at the time returned, stronger this time without the initial anger holding it back. “Did you get some more?”

“Huh?”

“Medication.”

“Oh,” sounding surprised, he stuttered, “yeah, actually, it’s fine. Thanks.”

“I wasn’t apologising,” Arthur refuted half-heartedly, “since it was your fault.”

Colin had, luckily, heard the joke in his tone, and offered a small grin in return.

“You haven’t asked about my shirt yet,” Arthur asked, mock-affronted.

“Oh, forgive me! How is the holy grail of shirts, did you have to destroy it? Was it salvageable?”

“I don’t think you understand just how nice that shirt was.”

“Already speaking of it in past tense?” Colin rolled his eyes, smiling, “it was a regular shirt.”

“Perhaps to a peasant without taste, yes, but when you know what to look for…”

“Ah right,” Colin laughed, “anything to say, then, about what I’m wearing tonight? Is it up to your eminence’s standards? Or do I have time to change into something more regal?”

“Nobody gave me the option of dressing you,” Arthur paused, a thoughtful look on his face as he scanned Colin’s attire for the evening. He had to admit, the escort looked good, which was irritating for Arthur too because he hated this man. Well, okay, they were on more pleasant terms now, but he still despised him for ruining his shirt. And his coffee.

This morning, Arthur had seen him in casual clothes, but had hardly paid him much attention. Now, in a nice suit, hair not sticking out in all the wrong places, he looked appealing. Maybe not Arthur’s go to type, and definitely not now since he had met him, but he could still appreciate the view. 

“I suppose it will do,” Arthur conceded, “it looks better than what you were wearing this morning.”

Colin scoffed, refusing to rise.

* * *

“I should probably warn you about tonight,” Arthur began as they neared the building, but was soon cut off.

“No need, Morgana and Gwen filled me in. It’s a charity event for your family business, you don’t want to be there, but it’s family and you’re next to take over. Plus, your ex is going to be there, and you can’t _not_ show up, so you have to show up _and_ with somebody. From what I’ve heard about both your father and your ex, and the fact that it’s a business event, means that it’s not going to be the most fun evening I’ve ever had.”

Arthur processed this, wondering exactly what had been said about his father and his ex but not wanting to push it, “will it be the worst?”

“It hasn’t happened yet, so I don’t know.” Colin looked over to him, “but, I don’t think so.”

“Why, where’s the bar for your worst escort dates set?” Arthur asked, curiosity piqued.

“Well…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick update, hopefully my updates will be so frequent, but I won't promise anything! Thank you all for your kudos and support :)


	3. The Great Escape

“She _vomited_ on you?”

“Mhm,” Merlin nodded resignedly, remembering the evening all too well, “quite a lot. Consider yourself lucky you only got coffee on your shirt today. A friend of mine told me it happens more often than you would think, though.”

Arthur pulled a face of disgust, “did you ever hear from her again?”

“She actually gave a message to Freya apologising, but never requested my services again.”

“Would you have accepted if she had?”

“Depends if it’s a busy period,” Merlin shrugged, “but I can honestly say I’m not desperate to hold a stranger’s hair back any time soon.”

“Well, I suppose I can make a promise to you that I won’t drink too much.”

Merlin quirked an eyebrow.

“And if I do, my hair’s short so you’d only be needed to make sure I don’t pass out or anything.” Merlin grimaced at Arthur’s merciless smile, hoping upon hope his family wouldn’t drive him to drink. From what he had heard, his hopes were likely to be wasted.

* * *

Pulling up as close to the building as possible, Merlin glanced at Arthur who made no move to get out of the car. “Ready?”

“Would it make any difference if I said no?”

“Not really,” Merlin smiled politely, “you shouldn’t be nervous, though. It’s my job to make this as pleasant an evening as possible.”

“As much as your presence fills me with confidence,” Arthur droned sarcastically, “you should know I don’t get nervous.”

“Really?” Merlin, somehow, managed to prevent the guffaw leaving his lips, but Arthur had noticed and was beginning to glare. “I thought everyone got nervous,” he tried to defuse the situation quickly.

“Will you shut up?”

“Of course,” bowing his head, he undid his seatbelt, waiting for his client to do the same.

* * *

“How’s Arthur?” Morgana smiled pleasantly as she accompanied him to get the drinks. Merlin liked her a little more than her brother, but he supposed he had to give him a fair shot first. “Not making you reconsider your career?”

“No,” Merlin returned her kind smile, “he’s not driven me away. _Yet._ ” He whispered, conspiratorially.

“I know he can be a pain,” suddenly she became serious, “but he’s not a bad person.”

“I know,” Merlin nodded, although he couldn’t possibly make any judgement on Arthur’s character, knowing him only for a little over an hour, tops.

Morgana clearly wanted to say more, but something had caught her eye across the room. Merlin followed her gaze, eyes falling on a pair of men, one old, one probably only a few years older than himself. They were laughing over something, causing Morgana to scowl.

“Ex?” Merlin guessed, bringing Morgana’s attention back.

“And our father,” Morgana tilted her head, “they became good friends when Richard began dating Arthur, and the breakup apparently hasn’t changed that.”

Merlin simply watched the two men, chatting now to their colleagues, and his eyes circled the room until they landed on Arthur, who had also caught the spectacle. He was tapping his foot anxiously, something Merlin would not point out to him, but seeing how uncomfortable they made him when they weren’t even near him made the escort worried about his evening.

“My father is a man without morals,” Morgana spoke again, not noticing the man Merlin was watching intently. “Arthur refuses to speak too ill of him because he’s our father, but his resolve has dropped since the breakup. Uther blames Arthur for it, it was difficult for Gwen and I to make him see otherwise.”

Merlin did not miss the use of her father’s first name, sensing there was more to her own attitude towards her father than there was time to go into. “I’ll make sure to avoid the topic,” he assured her, attempting a bright smile. “We better go over to him before they do,” he inclined his head towards his date, and Morgana followed his lead.

* * *

“They’ve put us _together_!” Arthur was whispering angrily, clenching and unclenching his fists as his eyes travelled from his father and his date. “This is _his_ doing.”

Merlin had to admit, things were going south rather quickly. Checking his watch, he confirmed that they had not been here long enough for things to go badly this soon, but apparently fate enjoyed toying with him.

“Don’t worry,” Merlin found himself putting a comforting hand on Arthur’s shoulder. “I can do most of the talking.”

Arthur stared at him for a millisecond, “oh, great, I feel much better!”

Merlin exhaled heavily as Arthur put his head in his hands, deciding to ignore the bitter insult. Shuffling to the side a little, he made sure Arthur was out of view of the two men he would not want to see him in this state.

“Morgana will be there, too,” trying a different tack, Merlin spoke calmly, “honestly, it will be fine.”

Arthur paused in his frustrated gesticulations and took a breath, looking up to meet Merlin’s eyes. “I’m fine,” his voice stern, Merlin wasn’t fully convinced.

“Never doubted it,” he assured him, both aware of the lie, but happy to carry on. “But remember, my professional role does include taking care of a very drunk client,” he winked, patting his date on the back.

* * *

“I’m Colin,” Merlin introduced himself with a pleasant enough smile, shaking the hand of Arthur’s father, who didn’t look any kinder up close. Sat beside him was Arthur’s ex, who looked even smarmier. He was surprised he saw the man’s face considering how far his head was stuck up Uther’s backside. Arthur could be annoying, but Merlin instantly recognised the reason why.

Morgana sat on the opposite side of her father, picking at her napkin watching each person nervously. Merlin got the impression she wasn’t as nervous as she was acting, whether this was for Arthur’s sake, so he didn’t feel silly, or for Uther, who had old fashioned views on women, Merlin didn’t know, but hoped the former.

Arthur sat mostly with a blank stare, focussing most of his attention on not rising to the bait when his father made subtle comments belittling him. For most of the night, Merlin chatted to his date about nothing in particular, just to keep his mind off everything. That was, until Uther cornered Merlin.

Merlin could see in Uther’s eyes that he had already made up his mind that he did not care for Arthur’s date. He wondered if it was because he was male, or because he wasn’t Richard. He found he didn’t care too much, it was nothing he would lose sleep over.

“Arthur, wait,” Merlin put a hand on Arthur’s before his date tucked into his meal. Turning, he grabbed a waiter, making sure to check if any of the meals had egg in. He knew Arthur had a lot on his mind tonight, but honestly, how could the man forget something like that? Thankfully, he was assured the meals were fine, and when he allowed Arthur to begin eating, he was treated to a small nod of thanks. He was surprised Arthur could even manage such a thing.

* * *

“How did you both meet? Arthur hasn’t mentioned you.” After the starter, Uther began with his questions. The derogatory gaze both Uther and Richard shot his way suggested he should be insulted, but they didn’t know he was for hire and had heard worse. Much worse.

“Ah, well, it’s quite awkward really,” Merlin beamed, seeing in his peripheral vision Arthur’s interest was piqued too. “The first time we met, I spilt his coffee on him!”

Merlin chuckled, but seeing Arthur’s face drop in a mixture of confusion, fear, and anger, he rushed to finish. “So, we just started chatting, I offered to buy him another coffee, and here we are.”

Short but enough, some truth with some falsities, meaning Merlin did not have to come up with a convoluted lie he would have trouble remembering.

“I thought Arthur bumped into you?” Morgana chimed, grinning.

Arthur rolled his eyes, but played along, “he bumped into me. And, although we got another coffee, I distinctly remember paying for my own.” Merlin felt Arthur elbow him gently, in a friendly gesture, but probably in a ‘do not say any more’ sort of way. Merlin’s lips quirked to the side mischievously, but he said no more.

“What line of work are you in?” Uther continued his interrogation, unperturbed by the strength on Arthur’s side now. Even Arthur had let some tension ease away, listening calmly to the questioning.

“I’m a legal consultant,” spoken with ease, it was his go-to job. Unless the client specified for something else, this job usually worked for the type of client Arthur was. He secretly praised himself when Uther hummed quietly in acknowledgement, clearly realising he may have underestimated Arthur’s new partner.

Chatting a while with Uther about his ‘job’, Merlin noticed Arthur’s surprise and amazement that he had not tripped up once. This was one thing Merlin enjoyed about this job, because most of it was the same. Sometimes different things would come up, a conversation would take a different route, but inevitably they would enter familiar territory and he always had an answer ready. Lance had helped him a lot at the beginning, making sure he got this part right, because some nights were better than others. Sometimes you just weren’t on your game, but you still had to get this right, or you might not get as many bookings as you used to.

“I’m quite surprised Arthur’s with someone who actually enjoys their work,” Richard finally piped up, having been mostly silent all evening.

Merlin turned to him, smile falling from his face slowly into something more of a warning. He dealt with rude clients on a regular basis, he was not going to let a client’s ex walk all over him or ruin his client’s night.

“Oh?” Tilting his chin, he waited for Richard to elaborate.

“He used to hate it when I used to talk shop with him,” he spoke maliciously, “we used to date.”

“I know,” Merlin nodded, although he was surprised Richard himself knew that they had.

“I didn’t _hate_ you talking about it,” Arthur spoke through gritted teeth.

“Arthur isn’t as passionate about his work as you seem to be, Colin.” Uther had apparently joined in this awkward turn of conversation, which was looking to be harder to derail by the minute. “He isn’t career driven.”

“That’s one of the reasons I left, he just couldn’t take anything seriously.”

Merlin balked. He actually balked. For the first time he had been thrown a bit. Occasionally he had taken clients who had to deal with awful exes or awful parents, but not both at the same time. Here this pair were, giving it both barrels as they tore Arthur apart, in front of his new date – as far as they were aware. Arthur, for his part, was saying something, arguing. Morgana didn’t attempt to calm him down, and Merlin imagined she was pleased Arthur was standing up for himself. 

“I actually think Arthur’s very passionate about what he does,” Merlin interjected, composing himself. All eyes fell on him in an instant, so he continued, “this morning even he was working so hard to help set this up, I had a hard time convincing him to take a break!”

Uther squinted, thrown. What Merlin had said though was unlikely to be a lie, since he had put together some of the pieces and it wasn’t hard to guess why Arthur had been in such a horrible mood that morning. Merlin was still annoyed about it, and he wasn’t going to let Arthur off the hook since he bumped into him, but it didn’t mean he could not use it to his current advantage.

“If you think Arthur’s passionate about this, then you don’t know him,” Richard spoke snidely at last, folding his arms proudly.

“I do,” Merlin began, but stopped mid thought. “Arthur,” turning, he shot a concerned look at his client’s plate, “did you eat the dessert?”

“What?” his date’s brow furrowed.

“You ate the dessert?” Arthur nodded, slowly, “I told you not to,” shaking his head, he grabbed Arthur’s hand. “I told you that was the one dish _not_ to eat. There was egg in that!”

Sighing, he pushed himself up from his chair in a rush, pulling Arthur up with him. Barely sparing a glance at the other occupiers of the table, he gave his apologies but told them that he had better take Arthur to get some air. Noticing the concern etched on Morgana’s face, he mouthed reassurances to her, before hurrying his date out of the door and into the cold air.

“Was that alright?” he asked, giving Arthur a once over.

“Perfect timing, ” Arthur nodded, grinning, though his features contorted into a sulking expression, "might've made me look a bit hopeless at the end, though."

Merlin's raised brow and innocent expression made Arthur glare at him, “I’m rather impressed you came up with the escape plan.”

“I do have skills, you know.”

“Oh,” Arthur’s face screwed up, “are you sure?”

Throwing his hands up, Merlin blinked tiredly. “They were quite the handful,”

“I did warn you,”

“That’s true,” Merlin acquiesced, “now I know not to take any more bookings from you.” Shoving his date amiably, he found himself smiling when Arthur returned the gesture.

“I’ll text Morgana to let her know I’m alright.” Arthur shivered in the cold, “right now, I think we should call it a night.”

* * *

“Was it the worst night you’ve had, then?” Arthur asked, softly.

“Could have been worse,” his date looked up, “you didn’t actually eat any egg, or drink too much.” Merlin shrugged, eliciting a small smile from Arthur.

“We left early,” Merlin turned off the engine, outside the block of flats Arthur lived. “But you’ve already paid for the evening. I can leave, but technically we’re still on the clock.”

Arthur frowned, remembering this was business.

“It’s up to you,” Merlin shrugged after a moment of silence.

“You’re quite good at this,” Arthur said instead, looking through the front window into the quiet city.

“Thank you?”

“When we met before, you were all over the place. Clumsy, untidy, almost… deranged.”

“In my defence, I had just bumped into an arse.”

Arthur scowled at him, “you can’t address me like that. I’m paying you right now, it might be wise to stay on my good side.”

Smirking, Merlin bowed his head, “of course, as you wish.”

Rolling his eyes, Arthur pushed, “is this your only skill, then?”

“I’m surprised you’re willing to concede I have a skill,”

“Well, let’s just say I’m feeling generous. After what you did for me tonight, I suppose I owe you one.” Merlin watched his companion blink uncomfortably, probably not used to offering thanks or compliments frequently.

“Don’t mention it,” rolling his shoulders back, Merlin sat further into his seat, “it’s kind of my job to make sure my client doesn’t have an awful time.”

“To an extent,” Arthur finally looked at him now, eyes squinting quizzically. “I wouldn’t have faulted you for staying out of the argument, and it’s not your job to get involved.”

“Arthur,” placing his fingertips to the bridge of his nose, Merlin prepared to explain the complexities of his working life. “You paid a lot for the evening with me tonight, yes?”

Thinking a moment, Arthur remembered just how much he had paid for the man. The man he thought could bring ruin on his night, only to have aided his escape. Nodding, he let his escort continue.

“Obviously the escort service isn’t cheap, but I charge a bit more than some others. If you had a look at a few, you’d have noticed. I know, though, that I can charge so much. I’m good at my job, I ask more questions beforehand so I don’t go in blind, and I know what my client wants.” Pausing, he waited for Arthur to process this, “and tonight, I know what you wanted from me. I was aware of the allergy, the disappointed father, and the horrible ex – who, by the way, probably outdid you in arrogance.”

“I’m not arrogant,” Arthur interrupted, half-heartedly.

“My point is, I don’t just do my job adequately, I get involved so I can justify my rates and get more clients.”

“I see,” Arthur turned in his seat, scratching his chin as he appeared to mull all this over. “So, it wasn’t just for me?”

Merlin frowned, not expecting that response.

“And I thought we had a special connection!” Playfully adopting puppy-dog eyes, Arthur pouted as he teased the man. Merlin rolled his eyes, but his lips perked up a little. “Is it usual for you to break your client’s hearts like this at the end of the day, then?”

“What? No, of course not!” Shaking his head, “to be honest, most of my clients fall into three categories: the first know it’s business, shake hands, job’s done and we part ways quickly and easily; the second just want somebody to listen to them, which I don’t mind so much until they get a little clingy; the third, either due to drink or just their nature, use their hands a tad too much.”

“You told me you don’t do that,”

“That’s right. I have a three-strikes and you’re out policy, and fortunately, I don’t do refunds.” His mouth turned up in a bitter smile as he remembered all those with wandering hands, offering more money just for a quick shag.

“Which category am I then, Colin?” Hearing the wistful tone in his companion’s voice, Merlin wondered which Arthur wanted to be in.

“None,” Arthur stared expectantly, “you’re the only one who’s asked me anything about this. Obviously, I get the questions before the date about certain ‘procedures’ and what-not, and I understand they can’t exactly talk to me about it outright on the date!”

“Don’t get many leaving early, I suppose?” Arthur chuckled.

Merlin smiled, returning a quiet laugh, “sometimes, but they usually don’t sit with me for the remainder of the time.” Speaking of the time, Merlin instinctively checked his watch. Not long ‘til quitting time.

“Well, I want to get my money’s worth.”

* * *

“Was what you said true?” Arthur began another line of questioning, and Merlin was seriously beginning to wonder what his interest was. “Everything about your job, the consultancy?”

“Could be,” exhaling, Merlin gave his companion a blank stare. “I can be whatever you want me to be.”

It was Arthur’s turn to roll his eyes now, “yes, I’m sure a well-paid consultant has the time, and need for extra money, to moonlight as an escort.”

“Hobby?”

“Nice try,” Arthur smirked. “Do you have another job though, besides this?”

Merlin thought a moment, wondering if he could tell Arthur this. “I do, yeah.”

“You won’t tell me what it is, will you?”

“Not a chance.” Both of them laughed, Arthur nodding in acceptance.

“And ‘Colin’, is that your real name?”

“Eh, what do you think?”

Shaking his head, Arthur opened the car door, aware his time had finally run out.

“Maybe I’m just the buffoon you believed me to be this morning?”

“Most likely,” Arthur huffed, leaning against the car door. “Although, your presence tonight was appreciated.” Merlin smirked as Arthur cleared his throat.

“My pleasure,” Merlin smiled, genuinely.

“I suppose you have to say so,”

“I told you, I’m good at my job.”

Arthur grinned, “there’s something about you, Colin. I can’t quite put my finger on it.” He sighed, heaving himself from the door. “Goodnight, Colin.”

As the door shut, Merlin watched Arthur walk away, “goodnight, Arthur.”

* * *

The next day, when Morgana told him five pounds had been knocked off the price for Colin’s services, ‘for the coffee,’ Arthur smirked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the support guys, please enjoy this chapter! Hopefully I should keep updating often, but my dissertation is calling me - begging me - to do some work, so have an extra long chapter to keep you occupied for now!


	4. Two Sides of the Same Coin

“I heard the charity evening was awful,” Gwen smiled sympathetically. “Will you be going to the barbecue?”

Arthur stuck out his tongue, having not thought about that event yet, but determined to miss out.

“You can’t leave me with father at the barbecue, Arthur.” Morgana complained from the kitchen, eavesdropping on their conversation as she made her lunch. Why were they always at his apartment, he wondered, growing more agitated by their presence.

“You’re the one who forced me to attend the damned charity evening!” Shouting to her from his comfortable sulking spot on the sofa, he shook his head in exasperation.

“That wasn’t _so_ bad,” his sister tried, but it sounded as if she hadn’t truly convinced herself. “Anyway, the barbecue isn’t until a couple of weeks yet, you have time to prepare yourself for it.”

Morgana entered the room now, sitting beside Gwen who was watching them as an exhausted mother might. He had no idea how she put up with the pair, knowing he would have escaped long before now.

“How was Colin?” She asked, changing the subject.

“Oh, he was perfect!” Morgana nodded fervently before Arthur could answer, taking a bite from her sandwich. “And Arthur still says he had a bad night. Really, hiring that escort was for the best. You should be thanking me for saving you,”

“What?” Sitting straighter, he stared at her as if she were simple, “how did you save me? I ended up paying for an expensive escape plan!”

“Which you wanted all along,” Morgana remained calm.

“You’re infuriating,” Arthur sank back into the sofa, ignoring Morgana’s grin.

“Did you like him, though?” Gwen turned back to Arthur, blanking their spat, as she did on many occasions.

“He was acceptable,”

“Colin certainly liked you,” Morgana winked, “he even took money off for the coffee.” She turned to Gwen, gossiping about the escort.

It was true, Arthur had found it amusing to see that Colin had knocked off money for the spilt coffee, but it didn’t mean anything. “It was only five pounds,” he shrugged, “that’s nothing out of what we paid him.”

Morgana tsked at him, speaking again only to Gwen about the escort. Arthur was fine to just block them out, turning the volume up on the television he wasn’t even watching.

Colin had been more than acceptable, he had to concede. The man had made his night mostly bearable, and was pleasant to chat to, but their conversations were nothing substantial. Colin’s life was unknowable, so whatever Arthur thought about his escort was useless. Anyway, he didn’t feel anything except possibly edging towards friendship, and whoever Colin really was, he was sure they probably would never meet again properly.

“What if you invited him to the barbecue?”

Arthur’s eyes widened at Gwen’s suggestion. Of course, Morgana was already praising the idea, no doubt she was ready to call the service now and get confirmation.

“Can you ladies stay out of anything?” Dropping a withering glare on them, he mumbled, “Anyway, he said he wouldn’t go out for an event with my family again.”

“ _Arthur,_ ” Morgana groaned, “you have to go to the barbecue, or father will have your head.” She tried to reason with him, and to be fair, the threat was unnerving.

“He can’t control me forever.”

“He can while you’re sitting around here doing nothing to get your life in order,”

“I have plans!”

“Oh?” Morgana hated his attitude to his work. Not like her father or Richard, though, but because Arthur never actually tried to follow what he wanted to do. He had been pushed in his father’s footsteps with a pretty forceful hand, and it was difficult for him to get out of as he was guarded by many of his colleagues, but he knew he never made a conscious effort to go against his father. His complaints were empty, and Morgana was the only one who believed he could do something more. “If it’s to eat your weight in rubbish until you physically can’t do the work father’s forcing you to do, then you’re on the right track.” Smiling snidely, her eyes quickly went from the junk food on the table that Arthur had been sporadically snacking on throughout the day. 

“Perhaps it is,” Arthur blinked stubbornly.

“Morgana’s right,” Gwen intervened. Her tone was stern, a tone Arthur had forgotten she could wield well. “We’ve known each other for a while now, Arthur, and honestly, all I’ve ever known is you being miserable.”

“Well, thank you for that,” crossing his arms, he spoke harshly, “if I’m so dreadful to hang around with then you both know you don’t have to be here all of the time.”

“Don’t be like that,” his sister tutted, “you know Gwen’s right. It was actually strange seeing you get along with Colin so well last night.”

“That’s his job!”

“So?”

“He’s supposed to get on with me,”

“That doesn’t mean you have to get on with him, but you did.”

“Why can’t you drop this?”

“Why can’t you see that we’re just trying to help?”

“Why can’t both of you not turn everything into a squabble?” Gwen sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Arthur, if you’re not going to stand up to your father and leave the company any time soon, then you have to go to the barbecue.”

“Fine.”

“Morgana, if he doesn’t want to invite Colin then that’s his choice. You’ll be there anyway,”

“Alright,” Morgana rolled her eyes, and Arthur could tell she wanted to say more. She probably would when Gwen was not in the room.

“Arthur, we’ll leave you the details to contact the service yourself this time, so if you chose to take Colin, you can.”

“I’d do it soon; March is a busier month than February apparently.” Morgana chimed, glad to have a final word in it. Gwen shot her an exasperated glance, but said nothing more.

“May I please continue watching this now?” Arthur asked, petulantly, knowing they were all aware that he was not watching this show. It took him a few minutes after they acquiesced to figure out what it was even about.

He could invite Colin, he supposed. The man was good at his job, and it would be nice to show Richard he could hold a man passionate about his job down. Still, if he used him as just another excuse to leave an event early again people would catch on, and it would be a waste of his money. Would the escort even wish to attend an event just so he could get Arthur out of it? No, if he attended, he would have to stay until an acceptable time had passed. Morgana would be there for most of the time anyway, he could just stay with her, he did not need an escort.

* * *

Work was no different, unfortunately. His colleagues all asked him more about Colin when they saw him in work after the charity event, telling Arthur what a perfect fit they were. _Perfect fit?_ He even thought he heard someone describe them as two sides of the same coin, but decided to ignore it. If only they knew the truth. How could they possibly be a perfect fit, they hardly knew each other. Anyway, Arthur still was not fully convinced Colin was a functioning human being. His act the other night was performed to perfection, but that only meant the escort was a professional. When they had bumped into each other the same morning, Arthur believed that was the real Colin: clumsy and simply bad at everything other than his job. Well, _one_ of his jobs.

For some reason, their conversation from the car was playing the rounds in his head. His colleagues had all put it there, he surmised, aggravated. He found himself intrigued, wanting to know more about this Colin, his real life. Shaking himself, he huffed, confused by his own thoughts. He was probably just grateful to him for standing up for him, and there was nothing more to it than that.

“Hello, Princess,”

And with that tone, every thought Arthur had disappeared as he grimaced, looking up with tired eyes.

“You look positively _glowing,_ ” Gwaine smiled cheerfully, hopping on to Arthur’s desk without a care in the world. Arthur moved a sheet roughly from under Gwaine. Not that he needed it, he just wanted to make a point. Gwaine shrugged. “What’s got you thinking so hard, anyway?”

Arthur swatted Gwaine’s hand from where it had been about to pat his forehead in a mocking gesture. “Oh, I don’t know, perhaps my work? The thing we both do here?”

“What?” Gwaine scoffed, “you hate this!”

“I still have to do it.”

“Hmm,” Gwaine looked unconvinced, “I’m not sure about that.”

“Can you go and be unsure about it outside?”

“And deprive you of my company? I think not.”

Obviously. It would be too much to ask to have a day without this man, his colleague, badgering at him. They tolerated each other, _liked_ each other, even. Their relationship, though, was more one of mutual irritation.

“So, how long have you been seeing Colin?”

Arthur threw the sheet of paper he was holding on to the desk. “What?”

“What?” Holding his hands up, Gwaine stood carefully, “I was just asking!”

“Why is everybody so interested in Colin and I? Aren’t there any other romances in this place that people could occupy themselves with?”

“Eh, there’s something going on between Mordred downstairs and Kara. They’re trying to keep it quiet, but most people already know.”

“There, go and gossip about that to someone who cares.”

“Nobody cares,” Gwaine explained, “most of them met Colin at the charity do and are on to that now. Mordred’s probably glad to get the heat off,” grinning, Gwaine took the seat across Arthur’s desk, settling in for good. “So,” placing his chin in his hands like a school girl, he leant forward, “tell me about _Colin_ ,”

“Gwaine, are you serious?” Arthur sat back, desperate for the answer to be no.

His colleague, no longer friend – he had decided that this instant – fluttered his eyelashes in response. “I only chatted to him for a few minutes, seemed like a nice bloke though, so much better than Richard.”

Arthur scowled, “don’t.”

“Alright,” thankfully, Gwaine knew when to cross a line and when to stay well away. “But c’mon, you can tell me something!”

 _No, I can’t._ Arthur thought, knowing that whatever he could tell Gwaine was a complete lie. Nothing about Colin he knew was true. “What do you want to know?” Submitting, simply because Gwaine would not leave his office until he had got something from him, he sighed.

“How did you two meet?”

“He spilt my coffee on me, next.”

“Not going to elaborate?” At Arthur’s shake of his head, he rolled his shoulders and continued, “fine, is he coming to the barbecue?”

“I thought you were asking me _about_ him?”

“I figured since you’re so touchy about event telling me how you met I wasn’t getting anywhere like that.”

“You’re unbearable,”

“I try,” Gwaine feigned a humble expression, “now answer my question.”

“I don’t know,” Arthur answered, honestly. Ever since Morgana and Gwen had broached the idea, it had never fully left his mind. He wanted to say no, he wanted to forget about the escort service altogether, but it would not be so bad to invite Colin again. Everyone at worked seemed to like him. He was told Colin had ruffled Richard’s feathers, too, which was always an added bonus.

“Have you asked him?”

“No, it hasn’t come up.”

“You should!”

“You should mind your own business,”

“If I do, will you invite Colin? We didn’t get to finish our conversation.”

“Is that a promise you will leave me alone if I get Colin to come?”

“Well,” Gwaine stroked his chin, “I can’t exactly promise that. Without me, how would a princess like you cope? You need me and my excellent advice.”

“How very kind of you.” Arthur smiled sarcastically, beginning to focus his attention back on the papers in front of him.

* * *

Arthur regretted his decision as soon as Morgana picked up the phone. “Hello? Arthur?”

“Morgana!” He attempted cheerful, but it just sounded scary. “I just thought I’d call, see how you are?”

“Cut to the chase, Arthur.” The business-type tone she used always got things done. Arthur was rather baffled by his father’s decision not to use her to his advantage in the company. Although Arthur was brilliant at mostly everything, he had to admit Morgana could get business taken care of quickly. It was just a shame her talents were currently being wasted.

“Why can’t I be asking how you are?” Wasting his own time, he still refused to give in immediately.

“Because you don’t,” Morgana sounded weary through the phone, “and you never call me.”

“I never call you because most of the time you’re round here,”

“I can hang up on you, you know? Phones work like that.”

“Fine,” sitting down, he paused, preparing himself to ask his sister for advice. It sickened him to even think about it. “Do you honestly think I should invite Colin to the barbecue?”

“ _That’s_ what you’re calling about?” Morgana sounded a mixture of relief and confusion, “here I thought you were finally allowing me to tell you how to stand up to Uther and leave the company.”

“I can’t leave the company!”

“You can and you _should_ , but if you’re adamant at the moment I suppose I can stick to advising you in relationships.”

“I’m regretting this already,”

“Hush, hush,” Morgana interrupted, “I think Colin was perfectly pleasant, and you seemed to enjoy chatting to him.”

“He wasn’t as dull as I thought he would be,” Arthur conceded.

“And he made sure you were alright after everything that was said.”

“I guess,”

“What’s stopping you, then?”

“He’s an escort, Morgana.” Arthur rubbed his forehead, “I can’t make a habit of hiring him for every event,”

“It’s one event, dear brother.” He hated when she used the endearment. She thought she was being lovely using it, but it just made her sound even more condescending than usual.

“That’s what you said about the last one, _dear sister_.”

“Oh, Arthur, stop being such a fool.”

“I’m not a fool.”

“You asked for my honest opinion, I’ve given it.” Morgana concluded, ready to hang up, “Colin is a professional, and you know it’s good to have more people on your side at these events. Eventually you won’t need him, and you can attend the events alone, it will not become a regular thing.”

Arthur hated it when she spoke to him like that. Mostly because she was right. He hated it when she was right.

* * *

Dialling the number from the card Gwen had given to him, he pushed the call button with perhaps a little too much pressure than necessary. Morgana was going to hold this over his head for quite a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for the continuing support! Good news - I got some of my dissertation done, allowing me to treat myself to writing a chapter (although not enough that I can really justify writing it, but, hey ho). Enjoy!


	5. That's Not a Word

Merlin liked to dance, but his date was quite… awful at it. Elena was nothing he had expected her to be, really. She was lovely, and he enjoyed chatting to her because there were no boundaries with Elena apparently. Still, he would have liked her a lot more if she stopped stepping on his damn toes! Pulling them from underneath her with a forced smile, he tried to direct her movements again. Elena, for her part, did not realise she was making any mistakes, and smiled as people’s eyes drifted to them, not knowing they were staring at them because they were so bad.

“You’re good at this,” she stepped brusquely to the wrong side, dragging Merlin along with her.

“Yes, well,” Merlin grit his teeth, “it’s something most people do on dates.” Truthfully, he had only perfected his dancing skills because of this job. Before this, his coordination was appalling. He danced now out of habit more than anything. Arthur had been right, though, in everyday life he was mostly falling over his own feet. Frowning briefly, he focused on the date he was on.

“Do you enjoy it? Dancing?”

“Sometimes,” not _this_ time.

“I don’t really care much for it,” Elena shrugged, ignoring Merlin’s attempts to twirl her. “My dad always gets me to do these things, though. Apparently, he thinks I’m quite unladylike.”

“Oh?” Merlin feigned ignorance, but his deception failed. He was always worse at the little white lies. “Why do you still do these things, then?”

“It’s only a couple of times a year,” Elena’s eyes drifted, “and it reminds him of when he and my mum used to do things like this.”

“That’s a nice memory,” Merlin smiled sweetly.

“Yeah, so I don’t mind so much. Most of the time I can be myself, it’s just these times.”

“Maybe you could try and make it something you like? Put something of yourself into it?”

Elena waited for him to elaborate, staring at him with curious eyes.

“Just something small, so you and your dad can both enjoy it.”

“Maybe,” Elena concentrated, thinking, “what can I do?”

“I’m not sure,” Merlin regretted even suggesting the idea. It was just a thought that had come to him quickly, his mouth releasing it before he could think it through. This was way out of his area, he was definitely taking his job too far now. “You could chat to him about it? Maybe find a dance you do like and try that.”

Pulling away from her now as the dance came to an end, he almost thought he heard his feet cheer in relief. He certainly was happy there was no more dancing now, only a meet-and-greet sort of thing and then he was off. He liked Elena – dancing aside – so he didn’t mind going through different types of dances with her and helping her find one she might like. Fortunately, at this point, he was able to show her videos of each on her phone rather than offering a demonstration with her himself.

“Thanks for this,” Elena shook his hand at the end of the night. “Maybe I can get you for next time, might have a different dance for you.” She winked, leaving him wishing she did not. As pleasant as she was, his feet were aching. A lot.

* * *

“Nice evening?” Lance smiled at his friend’s grouchy face, noticing his slight limp. “Dancing?”

“Yep,” Merlin scratched his head, “I don’t know why they get me to do it if they can’t do it!”

“Couldn’t you work your magic and just lead? Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work?”

“Only if the lady follows!” Merlin explained, “Elena is one who cannot be led.”

“Ah, well, I suggest rest for a day.”

“I cannot believe you roped me into this damn business.”

“I can’t believe you actually agreed to do it.”

Merlin threw himself on to Lance’s sofa, kicking his feet up whilst ignoring the other man’s frown. Reaching inside his pocket for his phone, he fished it out and checked his notifications. He had noticed a few at the party when he had been showing Elena videos of people dancing _properly_ , but could hardly check them there.

Lance placed a tea out for him in on the table beside him, sipping his own. “Hasn’t Gaius got any chores for you?”

“Nope, I’m free tonight.” Merlin sounded less cheerful than he should, “means that while we’re watching movies I can feel guilty about not doing any of my research.”

Lance offered him a stern glance, “I told you not to work yourself too much.”

“You also told me to take a job as an escort!”

“What are we watching tonight, anyway?” Lance swiftly changed the subject, checking his shelf for any DVD’s he had. Merlin would just log on to Netflix anyway, but Lance preferred a hardcopy. So what if everyone thought he was ancient.

Merlin shrugged though, scrolling through his phone. He noticed the message from Freya quickly, but was hesitant to open it after the night he had. What if it was another night of awful dancing? Or what if Elena was booking him early for the next time? Scrunching his eyes shut, he opened it, then opened one at a time to glimpse the message.

“Oh,” he said audibly, reading the message through.

“Oh?” Lance stood over his shoulder, looking at what had caught Merlin’s attention.

“What’re you doing?”

“Sorry,” moving away, Lance nodded at the phone, “another booking, then?”

“Mhm,” Merlin continued to read through the message. “It’s another from Arthur, the one I told you about.”

“Oh yes, the one you _kept_ telling me about!” Lance raised his eyebrows, sitting back down since they would not be watching a movie any time soon.

Merlin scrunched his face in bafflement, turning to Lance as if he had just been insulted. “What do you mean?”

“What?”

“I ‘ _kept_ telling you about’? I just told you how the date went!”

“And then you told me more about Arthur, and kept telling me more. You even told me about his sister.”

“Because it was her and a friend who requested me,” Merlin defended, swivelling his legs off the sofa to shoot his friend a hard stare.

“Are you going to go on the new date with him?”

“Don’t change the subject!”

“Even Freya said you were speaking to her about him a lot more than you do about other clients.”

“Other clients give me less hassle,” even Merlin knew it was a terrible lie. Damn, these white lies were not getting any easier.

“Okay, well, I believe you.”

Staring each other down for several minutes, both knew Lance did not believe Merlin.

“It’s for a barbecue,” Merlin decided to go back to the date, knowing how stubborn his friend was. He always had to go on about the truth and what was right, well he wasn’t always right, Merlin thought.

“Will his family be there?”

“I don’t know,” Merlin sucked a breath in, “I’ll have to ring him and get some information.”

“I hope they’re not, for your sake.” Lance chuckled under his breath as he took another sip of his tea, Merlin sending him another death glare.

* * *

“Hey, Merlin!” Freya beamed, putting the phone down as he entered.

“Freya,” her smile was contagious, “how’re things?”

“Good thanks, I’ve just sorted my trip down to the lakes with my partner this weekend. I can’t wait,”

“Sounds lovely!” Merlin listened to her tell him about her plans, as she had told him before about how she loved to go down to the Lake District but had always had other things on.

“And how about you? How’s the PhD?” Crossing her arms on the desk so she could rest her head in them, she stared up at him with bright eyes.

“Well,” scratching his head, Merlin grimaced, “it’s alright. Not the worst, but it’s finding the time. I need money, though, too.”

“You’ll get it soon, Merlin. Your rates here are already quite high, soon you won’t have to take many requests.” Freya reassured him.

“That’s the hope,” he nodded, slapping his hands together. “I actually came to talk to you about the new request? From Arthur Pendragon?”

“And I thought you’d come to see me!” Freya pouted, but grinned suddenly, “I figured you’d be here about that quickly.

Cocking his head to the side, he was taken aback, “why?”

“You’ve been talking about that Arthur a lot,” Freya smiled in a secretive way, “Lance said it was a sensitive topic, though.”

Setting his face, he decided in that moment that he was going to murder Lance.

“I talk about all of my clients!”

“Yes, yes,” Freya nodded, looking through her notes to find the right document, “but not about how you met.”

“Because I usually don’t meet my clients _before_ the date!”

“That makes sense,” Freya blinked, “but we’ve all heard this story at least three times now.”

“What?” Merlin crossed his arms, “I might have spoken about it twice, tops, but no more!”

“If you say so, dear.”

Blinking tiredly, Merlin tapped his foot on the ground in annoyance. “I am a professional, I was only mentioning him because he is a client and I have a _professional_ interest,” he said slowly.

“Is that reassurance for me or yourself?” Freya grinned cruelly.

“I’ve only met him twice!”

“Don’t we know it,” bringing out the document from her neatly organised binder, Merlin wondered if she had been waiting to do so just so she could spend some time teasing him.

“Thank you,” snatching it unkindly from her, he huffed and turned to walk out, “and tell Lance to stop spreading gossip about me!”

* * *

Having dialled the number, he paused, his finger hovering over the call button. It hadn’t even been a week since he had spoken to Arthur Pendragon, yet here their paths were crossing once more. Although he had told the arrogant blonde he would not take any requests from him, he was glad when he saw the text from Freya. Thankfully, Lance had not seen his smile, which would only have given him and Freya more ammunition.

Thinking back, he realised he had spoken a lot of Arthur after their date. It was just, there was a lot to say! The date had pretty much been a disaster, but he and Arthur had got on well. As much of a prat he had been when they first met, that evening Merlin had been able to understand him a bit more. Something he never really could with his other clients. Most of his clients saw him as less of a person and more as an accessory. Which was fine. Until he experienced something else. Arthur had asked him more about himself, had wanted to know more about who _Merlin_ was, and not Colin. Maybe that was why he was thinking about him more, because it was nice to be thought about for once. Not just as a sexual object or dance partner, but as a real person.

He had dated before, but nothing majorly serious. With his PhD and pharmacy work, he never had much time to go out and meet people. Then he needed more money, and Lance recommended escorting, and it all seemed perfect at the time. Unfortunately, tell a prospective partner your job involves escorting – no, not sleeping with – people to different events, then they usually would not hear you out. Merlin had just come to accept that way of life. The truth is though, he didn’t believe he thought of Arthur as a prospective partner. He was lonely, and Arthur seemed nice, but he was also immature. He lived too much under his father’s shadow.

Merlin frowned suddenly, noticing his phone screen had gone dark due to inaction. Why was he thinking so much about this? He just enjoyed his conversations with Arthur, that was it! Freya and Lance had got into his head. Shaking his head in irritation, he removed the thoughts from his mind. Just business.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Arthur, it’s Colin.”

“Ah, Colin, I wasn’t sure when I’d hear from you.” Arthur sounded awkward on the phone, Merlin smiled a little.

“I was just calling to confirm our date for the fifteenth,”

“Good,” Arthur sounded like he was restraining himself. Maybe Merlin was just reaching, though. “I assume you want some information? You already know about my father and ex-”

“They’re both going to this event, too?” Merlin interrupted, already regretting agreeing.

“Oh sorry, I forgot to say, this is a corporate barbecue.”

Merlin’s smile dropped and his face went blank.

“That is a shame,” Merlin sighed.

“You’ve already agreed now,” Arthur argued.

“Fine, fine. You’re not expecting me to come up with another escape plan, are you?”

Arthur hesitated, before settling on a no.

“I’ll think of some and let you decide which we go with,” Merlin decided.

“If you think it’s best,”

“What’s the dress code?”

“Oh yes, I forgot, I get to dress you up!” Arthur sounded far too delighted. Honestly, what were Freya and Lance thinking about him and Merlin? This man was awful. “I could make you wear a stupid hat.”

“Telling me the dress code isn’t exactly the same as telling me exactly what to wear, you dollop-head.”

“Excuse me, Colin, but the customer is always – wait. Did you just… did you just call me a _dollop-head_? Describe dollop-head.”

“In two words? Arthur Pendragon.” Arthur huffed, but Merlin swore he heard a chuckle under his breath.

“So, this is the service you give to all your clients?”

“Oh no,” Merlin grinned, “this is the service I provide only to your highness.”

“I hope my father corners you again at this barbecue,” Arthur growled.

“Will Morgana also be attending?”

“Yes,” Arthur sounded puzzled, “why?”

“Good, at least there’ll be someone interesting to talk to there.”

“It’s a good job I can’t throw anything at you through the phone.”

It wasn’t until Arthur almost hung up that he remembered to tell Merlin the dress code.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the support for this guys, I'm enjoying writing this a lot and am glad you are enjoying reading it! :)


	6. I'm Good at Dancing

Arthur frowned, staring out of the passenger window, taking in the lovely blue sky and beaming sunshine.

“I’ve checked the weather,” Colin grinned maliciously, “supposed to stay like this _all day._ ”

“Obviously,” Arthur’s eyes rolled back to the front window. “Because England is notorious for its sunshine.” Growling, he crossed his arms.

“We always have escape plans,”

“Nope,” shaking his head, he huffed, “Morgana has forbidden it. She told me if I even think about it, she will tell father about my wishes to leave the company.”

Arthur kicked his leg out in front for more room, then tried to un-stick his arms from the leather seats. It was too hot.

“Why would that be a bad idea?” Hearing the frown in his voice, Arthur stared at his companion.

“Are you mad?” Pulling his head back to take Colin in, he complained, “I can’t leave the company.”

“But you want to?”

“It’s just not as simple as that.”

“Is it not?”

“ _Colin!_ ”

“Alright,” Colin looked taken aback, “I’ll cross ‘business’ off the list of topics for discussion.”

“Thank you,” Arthur sat back, regretting it as he had forgotten how uncomfortably sticky the seats were in this weather. “Anyway, if it went to plan, Morgana would never let me hear the end of it. She’s already claiming she saved me the other night. Like I needed any help.”

Colin scoffed; Arthur chose to ignore it. “Oh? How?”

“By hiring you,” Arthur grinned.

“I guess,” Colin looked thoughtful, “but, in your defence, it wasn’t just her. I did a lot of the saving, myself, really.”

“How is that in my defence?” Arthur scrunched his face.

“Wait… You’re right,” Arthur smiled, pleased with himself until Colin finished, “you did need help, and you were saved by Morgana and I.”

“How much more money would it take for you to be quiet?”

“A _lot_ ,” Colin smirked.

“Just as well,” Arthur rolled his eyes, “probably wouldn’t work anyway.” Colin’s answering pleasant smile told him he was right.

“Did your dad ever ask you about that, by the way?”

“Hm?”

“The eggs. Did he ever check if you were alright?”

“Oh,” Arthur nodded slowly, “he did. I believe it was simply because if I were to die, he would have nobody to succeed him.”

Colin grimaced, “harsh. How can you be sure?”

“I’ve lived with him most my life,” Arthur explained.

* * *

Peeling himself off of the seat, Arthur exited the car, taking in the sights of all his colleagues. All his colleagues who were apparently obsessed with Colin, his escort. The man himself, oblivious to the love he had evoked in all the guests here, grabbed some things from the boot of his car and then went to join Arthur.

“Don’t you burn easily?” Arthur asked, taking in the pale man from head to toe. His casual wear was just as appealing as his evening attire, a brief voice in his mind pointed out. Surprised at the thought, he waited for Colin’s response.

“Well, I wear sun cream.” Colin answered, as if it were obvious.

“Fair enough,” Arthur shrugged, clapping his hands together. “Right, I suppose we’d better get this over with.”

“We’re not sitting with your family again, are we?”

“Only Morgana,” Arthur reassured the nervous looking escort. His father did that to some people. “She’s looking forward to seeing you,” elbowing Colin slyly, the escort shook his head in annoyance.

“Probably because nobody else takes her business ideas seriously,”

Arthur took a step back, “she told you about that?”

“Mhm,” Colin stuck a hand in his pocket. “I think, because I’m not a regular for many people, they don’t think they’ll see me again, so they open up to me. I know _so many_ secrets.”

Arthur frowned, wondering whether Colin sounded so excited when he thought of everything they had spoken about on their evening out. Would he tell people things he told him? He seemed like a professional, but Arthur could understand if he gossiped sometimes to friends, colleagues, those who would most likely never meet his clients. Maybe he would hold back today.

“Well, no offence, but I’m hoping not to make this a regular thing, either.” Speaking honestly, he told Colin what he had said to Morgana, “I can’t bring an escort to hold my hand to every event I go to.”

“Oh,” it sounded like disappointment in Colin’s voice. Probably a trick of the mind. “That makes sense,” nodding, he turned away and looked ahead to the field.

* * *

Before Arthur could say any more, the most irritating man he knew came running towards them, grinning uncontrollably.

“Colin!” Catching his breath, he paused, holding a hand out for the escort. “Good to see you,”

“You too, Gwaine,” Colin’s spirits seem to have perked right back up – although, Arthur isn’t sure they actually went anywhere.

“We weren’t sure if you were coming,” Arthur sent him a glare. Gwaine noticed, only widening his smile. Arthur wondered if he could persuade his father to fire him, he was sure he disliked the man. Probably not in the same way, but if it worked in his son’s advantage, did it matter?

“Where are you going?” Focusing back on the two men, now wandering off, he followed after them quickly. “Gwaine, do I need to remind you that Colin came with me?” Proving his point, he grabbed at Colin’s hand, hardly registering what he was doing.

“Alright, Princess, keep your wig on.” Gwaine chuckled, “I’ll go let the others know you’re here, then.”

With Gwaine running off again, because apparently he was a busy man when not in work, Arthur finally turned to Colin.

“What?” He blinked, confused at his companion’s blank expression. When the man’s eyes slowly travelled down, Arthur saw the problem immediately, yanking his hand away as if he had been burnt. “Sorry,”

“No need,” Colin smiled tentatively, “just warn me next time.”

“It’s only handholding,” Arthur shoved him gently, “I thought touching was only in terms of no-go areas?”

“You’re right,” Colin nodded, “but you grabbed it quickly and tightly!”

“Oh, Colin,” rolling his eyes, Arthur linked the hands once again, carefully this time. “Don’t tell me I crushed your dainty little fingers.”

“Even if you did try and book me again, I wouldn’t accept.” Colin grumbled, dragging Arthur forward as he held Arthur’s hand tighter in retaliation. Arthur grinned; this was going to be amusing.

* * *

Morgana, who apparently had been watching out for them, came over to them as soon as she spotted the pair walking side by side, still hand in hand. Arthur would have let go, the heat meant their hands were clammy even before they decided to link, but he had to admit he enjoyed the connection. Yes, it was with an escort who called him things like dollop-head, but the man was not all bad. This was his only real chance of pretending to have a relationship he had wanted for a long time. Richard was never very affectionate, and when Arthur found out why he had dated him, he began to piece their relationship together. The shrug-offs, the excuses, the bored expression when Arthur tried to have a conversation with him. Colin was being paid to be affectionate with him, and with Richard in his sights, Arthur would not pass up this opportunity to experience it for once.

Noticing his sister’s eyes glance at their hands, he stared nonchalantly at her, knowing she would once again gloat about how she had saved him. Now he knew Colin was on _her_ side, she would have even more reason to croon over the escort.

“Colin,” she grinned, a smile she never shared in the company of her father. “It’s good to see you.”

“Hello, Morgana. Oh, hello, Arthur. Nice to see you! Nice to see you, too.” Arthur conversed with himself petulantly, eliciting a moan from his sister.

“Yes, hello.”

“Lovely,” he smiled bitterly at her.

“I see you every day,”

“I don’t ask you round to my house!”

“Hello, Morgana,” Colin interrupted, diffusing the situation before he inevitably got trapped in one of their arguments as Gwen did.

* * *

Morgana led them to a lovely spot in the shade she had managed to procure before anybody else had the chance. Well, as a matter of fact, somebody else had actually been ready at that very spot, she told them, but when she turned on the charm, she was impossible to resist. Morgana knew her strengths, as well as men’s weaknesses.

“Who’s doing the cooking this year, then?”

Morgana shrugged, “from what I’ve heard, I wouldn’t eat much.”

Colin appeared disheartened; Arthur wasn’t surprised. For some reason, every year they chose someone incompetent to make the food, when they all knew perfectly good cooks worked in their company. Arthur was not one of them but had already done his stint. Nobody mentioned the year he had done it. Nobody except Morgana, of course. Thankfully Gwaine had not been with them that year, because if he had, Arthur knew it would be spoken of a lot more.

“I’m surprised you came back,” Morgana was speaking to Colin now, “did we not scare you away?”

Colin grinned, leaning back against the tree comfortably, “well, I heard the desperation in Arthur’s voice, and I couldn’t turn him down.”

“What?” Arthur sat up, “I was not desperate!”

Both Morgana and Colin looked to him, then at each other, with twin looks of disbelief.

* * *

Eventually, Morgana left them, called away by some colleague. Arthur finished off what was probably one of the most disgusting burgers he had ever eaten with an effort, then pushed the empty plate far away from him.

“Why did you eat it?” Colin asked, amused.

“I was starving!”

“Me too,” Colin sighed, glaring at his half-eaten burger to the side of him. “When you told me I was coming to a company barbecue, I hadn’t realised it would be bad food.”

“Sorry,” Arthur’s expression was filled only with glee, “should’ve mentioned.”

Colin shoved him playfully. “Still, it’s a rather nice atmosphere.” Looking around, Colin watched people chatting together.

“What, you don’t get many escort barbecues?”

His companion rolled his eyes over to him to offer a withering glare, “you know, most people hire an escort and want to keep it a secret.”

“Nobody’s around here,” Arthur shrugged. “All my colleagues love you, anyway. They wouldn’t care if you were a murderer.”

Colin’s head perked up a little, although lazily in the heat baring down upon them, “oh?”

“As much as it pains me, they were all quite hopeful you’d come.” Noticing the proud smile Colin wore now, Arthur shrugged, “but some of them are just trying to find a way to me.”

“What do you mean?”

Propping himself up on his hand, Arthur turned to face Colin properly, “if they get along with you, they think they get along with me. That way, I’ll talk about them more with my father, maybe put in a good word.”

“Seriously?” Colin appeared genuinely shocked, as Arthur had been initially when Morgana helped him see his colleagues for what they were.

Nodding, he let his eyes roam over all of his colleagues, “obviously, not all are like that. It’s difficult, though, to tell who’s an ally and who’s looking for a way up.” Letting his head sink, the only person he could think of was the one who had let him down the most. His chest ached, and his cheeks took on a rosy hint as he remembered how foolish he felt realising how he had been used. What he had done with a man who saw him as part of the corporate ladder.

“It must be horrible,” Colin’s voice faded into his mind, and he nodded, eyes still distant. “Even if we were actually dating, I wouldn’t let them do that.”

Arthur looked up, a smile brimming at the reassurance. “If we were actually dating,” he smirked, trying to lighten the mood, “you sound like you’d be a lot nicer to me than when I’m paying you.”

“Yeah, well,” Colin shrugged, “maybe you could pay me more.” He quirked his lips up cheekily, and Arthur was glad he chose not to press on the matter more. Still, it was nice to speak about it to someone other than Morgana. As much as he did love his sister, when he spoke to her about these things, she wanted to fix things immediately. Sometimes he just wanted to talk.

“I can trust Gwaine, though, right?” Colin asked awkwardly, Arthur’s eyes following his to see the idiot bumbling around annoying somebody else.

“Yeah, he’s harmless, just irritating.”

“It’s good to know you care about the friends you do have here,”

“How about you?”

“How about me, what?”

“Do you actually know any of the other escorts?” Colin didn’t speak, so Arthur frowned, “surely you can tell me!”

“Alright,” Colin bowed to his question much quicker than Arthur expected. Perhaps it was the heat getting to them both which made them open up to each other. “Only one, really. He got me into it, but apart from him, I don’t know anybody. It’s not like we all meet up for corporate events.”

“Maybe you could pick one of your previous clients to attend, if you did?”

“Good idea,” Colin shook his head, smiling. “I wouldn’t know who to pick.”

“I can’t believe you’re on a date with me now, and you just said you wouldn’t know who to pick.”

“What? I didn’t think that would be your sort of event!”

“As long as my father isn’t there, I’d definitely be game.”

“Alright,” Colin frowned, throwing his hands up now as he spoke, “if there is ever an escort event held, would you, Arthur, please do me the honour of attending as my guest?”

Arthur sunk back, crossing his arms, “I don’t know if I want to go now.”

“You’re ridiculous!”

“Don’t worry,” Arthur carried on bullying him, “I’m sure Morgana would go with you if I can’t attend.” Raising his eyebrows suggestively, he took pleasure watching Colin squirm underneath his gaze.

“Morgana just liked to chat to me!”

“I wonder why,”

“She doesn’t like me like that,” Colin threw him an annoyed glare, “she’s just lonely.”

Arthur paused in his suggestions, “you think so?”

“I’m only really going off these two times I’ve spent with her, so, I obviously don’t know her.” Arthur waited, knowing there was a ‘but’ following. “Her father doesn’t take her seriously, nobody really does here. She’s looking out for you but trying to make her own way at the same time.”

“I never asked her to look after me,” he interrupted, defensively.

“I didn’t say that,”

“She can talk to me about business.”

“I know,”

“Just… you don’t really know Morgana, or me.” Arthur sat up, bringing his knees up and circling his arms around them. His eyes scanned the field for his sister, finding her chatting to some people from her own department. A department lower than his own. A department she hated, because she knew she deserved more. Arthur knew she deserved more, but Uther didn’t. Thinking about him, Arthur now scanned the crowd for his father, who was chatting to his own colleagues. 

“I’m sorry,” Colin said, sitting up so they were facing one another, “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“You’re right, you shouldn’t.” Arthur left it at that, leaving them sat in an awkward silence. It was strange, because although he had only known Colin for a short period of time, the silence felt odd. Colin was _always_ chatting away to him about nothing, much like Gwaine but more interesting.

“I don’t have any sisters,” Colin spoke quietly, out of the blue. Arthur, strangely, felt a pang of relief at the break in silence. “Or brothers.”

Arthur stared at him, brow furrowing, “are you supposed to be telling me this? Something this revealing?”

Colin shrugged, “it’s not like it’s much to go on for you to find out my full identity.”

“I guess not.” Laying his legs flat against the ground and leaning against his arms, Arthur supposed he could let himself get sucked into this conversation. “Must be nice, not having anyone to argue with constantly.”

“Sometimes, yeah,” Colin nodded.

“But from what I’ve been dealing with so far, it seems you just do that to your clients.”

“I already told you, that’s the service I only provide for you!”

“I feel so blessed,” Arthur droned, but the corner of his mouth quirked up.

* * *

Arthur had no idea why Colin agreed to join their game of football. Their team was losing considerably, and, although not wanting to point fingers, everyone knew it was due to their weakest link: Colin. Finally, people could see the man Arthur bumped into, the gangly idiot with absolutely no coordination. Colin, of course, refused to give up. That was, until he somehow tripped over the ball as he went to kick it and ended up with a nosebleed.

Fortunately for him, he had Arthur, who was there to offer support and an endless stream of laughter. Obviously, he wasn’t heartless, checking his date over before he let loose the eye-watering laugh he could not hold in. Colin had tried glaring at him, but it was difficult as he held his nose at an awkward angle. Morgana had slapped him on the shoulder, and he stifled the noise, but he refused to hide his grin.

“You’re an awful person,” Colin grumbled, but was muffled as he held his nose. Arthur only laughed more at his escort’s attempts to speak.

“He’s right,” Morgana shook her head reproachfully at her brother, but it had little effect.

Then he heard it. The one thing that could, and did, make his laughter stop instantly. Richard. Richard’s giggling. Searching him out, Arthur spotted his ex, sharing a joke about the incident with a friend. Clenching and unclenching his fists, he felt Morgana’s comforting hand on his shoulder. “You should probably take Colin.” She stared at him, begging him not to rise to Richard.

Taking a breath, looking down at his hopeless date who sat obliviously on the grass, he nodded firmly. “You’re right.”

* * *

“Sports not exactly your thing, then?” Arthur smirked at Colin, whose nosebleed had finally stopped.

“I can do certain sports,”

“Which ones?”

Colin hesitated, shifting awkwardly in the car seat. “Never mind.”

“What?” Arthur blinked, “you can’t say that! You have to tell me,”

“If I tell you, you’ll laugh.”

“I won’t laugh!”

Colin’s eyes went wide, “just like you didn’t when I fell?”

Laughter burst out before he could stop it, and Arthur quickly put his hands over his mouth to prevent any more sound leaving. His eyes shifted to Colin’s apologetically.

“My point exactly,” he sighed.

“Please,” Arthur asked seriously. “I won’t laugh.”

Colin eyed him suspiciously, Arthur careful not to let out the snigger he was trying to hold in. He wanted Colin to trust him. “I can’t.”

“You said it yourself,” Arthur reasoned, “since you don’t see clients again, they can tell you their secrets. We probably won’t see each other again, so surely you can tell me this?”

Something flashed across Colin’s face, but was gone as quickly as it appeared. His companion shifted again in his seat, his hands gripping the steering wheel as he turned to look out of the window.

“Alright,” Colin closed his eyes briefly, “I’m good at dancing.”

He almost laughed. He really did. But, somehow, he stopped himself. The way Colin said it, he was ashamed, but proud, at the same time. Arthur knew what it felt like to be laughed at for something he felt strongly about. _Someone_.

“It’s a shame we didn’t stay longer at the charity event,” Arthur offered instead. “There would have been plenty of time to dance.”

Colin didn’t speak for a moment; evidently surprised Arthur had not laughed at him. “Then maybe you wouldn’t think I was a bumbling fool!”

“I don’t think that,” Colin rolled his eyes towards him. “Okay, maybe I do think that.”

Colin shot him an exasperated look before chuckling, leaving Arthur to release the laughter he held in. But it was a laugh he shared with the escort, rather than directed at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry it's a bit later than usual! Everything's a bit hectic atm, but I've managed to finish another chapter.
> 
> Thank you for all your lovely comments and support, I really appreciate it! :)


	7. I'm in Trouble

“You had a nosebleed?” Freya looked at him, incredulous, trying (and failing) to hold in a laugh.

Merlin pouted, annoyed that, for some reason, Arthur had come to the office to explain what had happened.

“Usually it’s the clients that do that sort of thing,” she continued, sounding too joyful about the whole thing. “I guess there’s a first for everything.”

“Why were you playing football, anyway?” Lance frowned, leaning against Freya’s desk. Apparently they had all come together to bask in the disaster that was Arthur’s company barbecue. Merlin would be surprised if not every escort knew of this story by now. It wasn’t even _that_ bad.

“They needed an extra person,” Merlin shrugged, trying to move away from the nosebleed, “it’s never come up with clients before.”

“And now it never will,” Freya laughed. “Stick to dancing, Merlin, if you want to impress someone,” as she winked, Lance blushed slightly. The look on his face said that he thought the same.

Merlin stamped his foot, annoyed, “and _who_ would I be trying to impress?”

“You seemed quite upset that he said he wouldn’t require your services anymore,” Lance offered, and honestly, if Merlin didn’t kill him soon…

“Because I need the money! His desperate family situations were really good for my bank account.” Even Merlin wasn’t fully convinced.

“Merlin, I’ve actually seen this Arthur, and I can tell you that I would totally understand if you had a crush on him.” Freya’s eyes lost themselves, clearly picturing Merlin’s date when he had come in the other day.

“I do not have a crush on him!”

“He must like you,” Freya patted the shirt on her desk resting between them, “why else would he bring you a gift?”

Merlin sputtered, wondering why he had to justify himself to the pair.

Picking up the shirt in a hard grasp, he shrugged, “how should I know? Maybe he feels guilty because he made me play football, so it was sort of his fault that I got blood all over my shirt.”

Lance and Freya both squinted their eyes in disbelief. Even Merlin had been confused by the shirt, though. It’s not like he had asked for it, and he certainly didn’t blame Arthur for his own clumsiness. The shirt was nice though; similar to the one that ended up covered in blood, it shared the lovely shade of blue he favoured, and the material felt soft. Merlin imagined that Arthur probably just picked it up while he was out and wouldn’t have given it too much thought, though. How could he?

“Merlin?”

Coming back into the room, away from his daydreams, he frowned at the smiles he got from his “friends”. He hated them sometimes.

“You like him!” Freya proclaimed with joy.

“I do not,” sighing, his eyes darted to the shirt he held, “and anyway, he said he won’t need me anymore, so what does it matter?”

“Is that an admission?”

“No!” Merlin did not fail to notice the subtle nods exchanged between the receptionist and the other escort. “Why do I even talk to you two about anything?”

“Because, we can _help_ you,” Freya carefully explained, crossing her fingers as she began her lecture. “The first step is acceptance.”

“I thought the first step was denial,” Merlin teased, looking at her ridiculously, “the last step is acceptance.”

“Merlin, I’m a married woman in her twenties with a stable job. You are also in your twenties, single, with god knows how many jobs,”

“So?” Merlin stuck his bottom lip out petulantly.

“ _So_ , I’m the best person for advice.”

Merlin looked to Lance for some aid, but the man was useless. Mainly because he had actually been set up by Freya and it was going rather well, so he had no doubt of the receptionist’s match-making powers.

Rolling his eyes, Merlin knew he was stuck there for the long haul.

* * *

That was only the beginning of his irritating day. Gaius had decided that today they would be spring cleaning. Only, it was not spring. It just meant that everything was a mess, and Merlin was the man to fix it. He might have got it done quicker too, if Gaius had not had to pop out for “a few minutes” and left Merlin to handle things at the front.

It was a quiet day, so most of the time Merlin spent cleaning and organising everything, his favourite tasks, but when people popped in, they quickly grew impatient at his slow speed. Apparently, despite Gaius’ age, he got everything done rather speedily. The assistant pharmacist who had fortunately not abandoned Merlin chuckled at the student’s attempts to multitask. They both knew that by the end of the day, things were probably going to be messier than they were when he started cleaning.

“Is Gaius in?” One customer called to Merlin who was getting the ready prescription. He was not allowed to handle packing prescriptions, which he took to be a blessing, but finding them could be just as annoying. Gaius liked organisation, but Merlin sometimes could not understand his organisational system. He never usually came out to the front, this probably being his third time. Gaius said eventually he would expect more of him, but as soon as Merlin finished his PhD he would not think about medication ever again. It was driving him mad, searching for one thing then having to look for another. The assistant, Alice, was kind to him, but she was busy now packing and Merlin could hardly ask for her help again.

“If he was, I wouldn’t be doing this,” Merlin mumbled, grateful that the shelves offered him privacy to complain.

Finding it, he cheered to himself in triumph. Then he heard the bell on the door go _again_ , and he hoped someone had only come to drop a prescription off rather than collect right away. If only his life was so simple.

Making his way to the front, he didn’t get a glance of their new customer as he was treated to an irate, bored customer who had waited a few minutes longer for his prescription. Merlin was better treated as an escort than he was as barely-an-assistant pharmacist. It felt odd.

“I apologise for your wait,” Merlin spoke with a sweet smile, gritting his teeth as he fought every urge to tell this guy to go away (though, maybe with a few more words stuck in there). “Gaius will be here next time to help you,”

“I hope so,” the angry man huffed, snatching the bag off the counter and leaving the student speechless.

That was, until someone else did.

“Colin?” Morgana smiled, looking just as shocked as Merlin did when he realised his cover was being blown.

“H-Hi,” he wondered which way he should go: lie and tell her she’s mistaken, or just go with it. “Hey, Morgana.” He caved, knowing he was terrible with white lies.

“What are you doing here?”

His face scrunched as he put his hands in his pockets, attempting a casual look while desperation emanated off of him. He had to tell her now. Tell her something. How does he even explain this? This has never happened, why is it happening now?

Morgana was beginning to look even more confused, and Merlin realised he had paused for too long, “I- I work here,” he nodded. “Just in the back, usually.”

“Oh,” she tried to make it sound like it made sense. None of this made sense. “I usually deal with Gaius, I’ve never seen you before?”

Morgana comes here regularly? Merlin ached to leave now, to get away from this awkward situation. He knew joining that escort business was a bad idea. He never usually worried this much. Well. About this many things, anyway.

“Gaius isn’t here,”

“I figured,” she smiled, amused. Amused by his inability to hold a normal conversation. Merlin wanted to smash his face into the wall. Maybe, once she left, he would. “Glad to see your better after that game the other day,” smile growing wider, she teased him more. Could she not see how awkward this was already?

“Er, yeah, well, it wasn’t that bad.”

“I’ve seen a lot tougher men cry over lesser injuries,” she confided, and Merlin wondered for a moment if she meant Arthur. “Did you get the shirt?”

Merlin had almost forgotten about the shirt, his day filled with dating advice from Freya and rude customers. “Oh yeah,” nodding, he smiled genuinely for the first time since she had walked in, “I was going to call today actually to thank Arthur.”

“I’ll let him know,”

“I should probably let him know myself,” Merlin was insistent, “he didn’t have to do that. How is he?” He asked, before he thought about it. Would it be strange to ask? Surely it was fine, he was just asking about someone _she_ had brought up. He was just interested because she had mentioned him, and he was a client of his so he was allowed to see just how he was. 

“He’s been a lot happier, actually. Plus, I don’t know how you’ve done it, but he’s even beginning to talk to me about my business plans,”

“Didn’t you talk about it before?”

Morgana shrugged, eyes falling to the floor, “occasionally, but we mostly always get around to why he should leave the company.”

“Well, I’m not so good that I can make him do _that,_ ” Merlin leant on the counter, forgetting about all the work he really should be getting on with or Gaius would kill him.

“If you did, I think you would need more than a shirt as your reward.”

After a moment, Morgana remembered that she had actually come to collect a prescription, so Merlin decided to warn her she might have to wait a while before she got it. She laughed but accepted, chatting to him while he worked. Her chatting only made it more difficult to find the prescription, but it had cheered him up a bit.

Coming out after too much time had passed, he handed her the bag, “it was nice to see you.” A brief thought wished she might have come with Arthur, but he ignored it, thinking once again that Freya had simply got into his head.

“You too,” Morgana stood waiting still, “should I let Arthur know I saw you?”

Merlin’s eyebrows furrowed, “er, no,” he decided. Would it matter? Arthur had already told him he would not need him any more. Did it matter if he knew where he partly worked? “I actually don’t usually tell clients much about my life,” he laughed awkwardly.

“Oh, sorry, I won’t blow your cover!” Morgana raised an eyebrow, “but don’t other clients ever come here?”

“Not really, and I’m usually in the back.”

“Ah, I see you’ve thought this through.”

“Mhm, even with past clients, it can be tricky, but I’d rather keep my lives separate.”

Morgana’s expression seemed to fall, and Merlin wondered whether what Arthur had insinuated about her may have been on the right track. Morgana was lovely, but… not exactly his type.

“That’s a shame, what if you get along with a client?”

“It’s not really ever come up before,”

“Oh,” Morgana still didn’t make to leave, but stood considering something. “You and Arthur seemed to get on very well, and I meant what I said. He’s different, since the charity event.”

Merlin frowned, wondering what she was talking about. “I’m glad,” he offered, confused.

“Well,” Morgana released a breath, holding on tighter to the bag in her hand, “I won’t tell him I bumped into you, but remember to let him know about the shirt.”

“Will do,”

Morgana went to leave, finally, despite the state of confusion she had put Merlin in.

“Oh,” turning at the door, she smiled at something he didn’t understand, “I hear there’s an impending promotion in Uther’s company, which will ultimately result in a party, no doubt.” At Merlin’s slow nod, pretending to understand, she elaborated, “Arthur will most likely be forced to go.”

With that, she was gone. It took Merlin too long to figure out what she meant. When he did, he realised the implications. Morgana said… So, she didn’t fancy him… Did she think…? Was she thinking the same as Freya and Lance? And this party… Would Arthur even want him to go?

It was that thought that made him smile. Then he realised, he was in trouble. A lot of trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thanks guys for the continuing support :) Sorry the updates are coming slower now; my work's got a bit complicated at the moment with everything going on, so I still can't promise very regular updates. I'm enjoying this, though, and it's taking my mind off everything so I will definitely finish this. 
> 
> Thanks for reading, enjoy, and stay safe everyone!


	8. He's An Oaf

“Colin?”

“Hi, Arthur, have I got you at a bad time?”

Arthur frowned, but shook a hand to his friends who, despite seeing that he had taken the call, would not stay quiet. “Er, no,” rolling his eyes, he gave up signalling to them, “just give me one second.” Leaving the room, he ignored the stupid remarks of his friends and found a quiet space to hear Colin clearly. “Is everything okay?”

“Mhm, yeah!” Arthur smiled worriedly at the nervousness in the escort’s tone, “sorry for calling so late, I just wanted to thank you for the shirt.”

“You didn’t have to call,” the worry faded from Arthur’s smile as it turned into a grin.

“Oh, sorry,”

“No, I just meant you don’t need to thank me.”

“You didn’t have to get me the shirt,” Colin argued back, “so I will thank you.”

Arthur shook his head, realising he may have just found someone more stubborn than himself. “If Gwaine hadn’t forced you to play football in the first place then your shirt wouldn’t have been ruined,”

“Well, then, Gwaine should have bought me a new shirt.”

“Alright! I accept your thanks!” Arthur could practically hear the victorious smirk through the phone, but allowed it. “Do you get many gifts from your clients?” Frowning, he wondered why he asked. His friends were waiting in the living room.

Based on the pause on the other end of the phone, broken by stuttering, Colin had not expected it either. “Erm, _occasionally._ It’s usually more…” He didn’t finish, but Arthur knew what he was getting at.

“Really?” Whistling, he was hardly surprised due to the nature of Colin’s job, “ever been tempted by any of it?”

“Arthur!”

“Sorry,” chuckling, Arthur could tell he had made the other man blush. “It was a joke,”

“Hilarious,” Colin droned, “now I wish I hadn’t thanked you.”

“I did tell you not to,” it was Arthur’s turn to offer a smug smile.

“Okay, well, I’m glad I called.”

“I bet,” Arthur grinned.

“Well, er, I should probably go,” it sounded like he wanted to say more, but held back, “goodnight, Arthur.”

“Goodnight, Colin.”

* * *

“I thought you said you and Colin were having problems?” Gwaine asked when Arthur entered the room. Arthur squinted at him questioningly, “then why have you got that smile plastered on your face?”

“What?” Realising he had, in fact, unconsciously been beaming, he frowned. “I’m not smiling,”

“You were,” Percy chimed in as he dealt the cards out, because apparently Arthur didn’t have enough difficulty getting Gwaine to leave him alone.

“What problems were you two having, anyway?” Gwaine inquired.

Arthur had been very vague about the details when he told Gwaine he probably would not see Colin again. Obviously, he couldn’t come out right and say Colin was an escort and Arthur needed to stop hiring him because his funds were depleting, and he couldn’t walk around with an escort all his life. So, he assumed with Gwaine’s brain being as small as it is, he would accept that Colin and Arthur were just ‘having problems’ at the moment. Eventually then Arthur would tell Gwaine they inevitably split up, but now Gwaine had other ideas.

“Or have you sorted it now?”

“Gwaine,” Arthur blinked slowly, drawing in a breath, “I’m sure nobody else here wants to talk about Colin.”

Unfortunately, everybody there did want to talk about Colin.

“Actually,” Leon looked up, “I do. Why didn’t you tell the rest of us about him?”

“I wondered that myself,” Elyan stared at him accusatorily, joined eventually by Percy once he finished dealing the cards.

Gwaine only crossed his arms proudly, leaving Arthur to sink to the floor, exasperated.

“What’s to tell? I started seeing Colin, we are now having problems. That’s it.”

“That is not it!” Gwaine shouted, “you still like him.”

“You were smiling when you came back in,” Elyan nodded in agreement.

“And it was a proper smile,” Arthur glared at Leon, his oldest friend, who had now betrayed him.

“I wasn’t smiling,”

“Princess, a blind man would have spotted that smile.”

Arthur looked around the room for an ally, but all eyes looking back at him were joined together against him.

“What do you want from me?”

“Some information about Colin,” Percy smiled, “where did you meet?”

“Oh, I know this one!” Gwaine practically bounced off his seat, “Colin spilt coffee on Arthur.”

“Is that it?”

“That’s all he would tell me,”

“That’s not a story!”

“Will you both _shut up?_ ” Arthur spoke through gritted teeth, smile definitely gone now. “That is how we met, how do I elaborate on that?”

“Well, people have spilt drinks on me, but I haven’t gone on to date them.”

“I don’t know,” Arthur shrugged, “we just started talking about things. He bought me another coffee, and we just… chatted.”

He watched as his friends looked at each other, silently debating whether they would let this question go or continue to probe him for information. What else would he say? It was after that one meeting where that oaf crashed into him that he then met him formally as an escort who was his date for a charity event, and now he can’t seem to shake him off? How romantic.

“What does he look like?” Leon asked after a moment, apparently having decided to drop the meeting due to Arthur’s evasiveness.

“He has black hair,”

“Arthur,” Elyan rolled his eyes, “his hair colour is not enough.”

“He’s about my height, he’s slender, has no muscles _at all,_ sometimes I wonder how he’s holding himself up.” Arthur thought about it, properly, “he’s attractive, not my usual type, though.”

“What’s he like?” Elyan asked, having his turn as interrogator.

“Gwaine, would you like to take this one?” Arthur droned, head lolling towards his colleague. Gwaine shook his head, as if he wasn’t being mocked, and left Arthur to answer his friends’ interrogation. “Weren’t we playing cards?”

“We can play cards in a bit, after you’ve told us about Colin.”

“Fine,” Arthur sighed, “he’s nice.”

After a moment’s pause, Elyan shook his head, “you have to tell us more than ‘he’s nice’. That’s nothing. There are plenty of nice people.”

“Alright fine, the truth is, he’s an idiot. A complete and utter fool!” Throwing his hands up, he began his rant, “he appears to people as this competent person, but he’s clumsy. He’s stubborn, and too chatty, and he called me a _dollop-head_.”

“What’s that?”

Arthur pushed his head into his shoulders, “I don’t know. I have no idea,” he grinned, baffled.

Taking a breath, he noticed again his friends sharing a look. What was it now? “What?” He mumbled.

“You’re smiling again,” Elyan teased.

“I’m not,” grumbling, he shook his head adamantly, “I’m merely expressing extreme annoyance.”

“By smiling?”

“Yes. Fine.”

“Makes sense,” Percy nodded mockingly. “Will we meet him?”

Arthur hesitated, knowing the answer was a resounding no. Colin would probably get on well with his friends, though, since he enjoyed torturing Arthur just as much as they did. Gwaine certainly adored the escort, and no doubt his other friends would soon fall for him. Even Arthur had to admit he was amiable; he didn’t dislike the man. Did that mean he _liked_ him, though?

Dragging a hand through his hair, exhausted already from this inquisition, he shook his head. “I’m not sure, I don’t know if it’s going to last.” He tried to appear more put out by this, so his friends would believe him and drop it.

“You’ve been like that ever since Richard,” Leon noted, tutting, “it sounds like you and Colin get on.”

“He’s a good guy!” Gwaine argued, for a man he barely knew, who he now seemed to love himself.

“None of you know him,”

“We know _you_ ,” Elyan tried, “you like Colin.”

“I don’t like Colin,” grumbling, Arthur crossed his arms.

“Yes,” Percy slapped his hand on to Arthur’s shoulder and stared him in the eye, “you do.”

“But he’s an oaf!”

“He’s _your_ oaf,”

“He is not _my_ oaf.”

“That’s because you haven’t accepted him as your oaf,” Leon argued, “you won’t accept anyone as your oaf, not after Richard.”

“This is ridiculous,” Arthur huffed, “I need some air.”

* * *

Arthur growled, taking a breath of warm air as he kicked at the ground. All this had started because that idiot had decided to call him to thank him for the shirt. Did he need to call him? It was no trouble for Arthur to go out and buy the man a shirt since his had been ruined on the date. Was Colin really so grateful? Probably, considering the other types of gifts he received. Scrunching his face in disgust, he didn’t dare think of what types of _those_ presents people gave to him, and only hoped it was not frequently that he received them.

Sticking his hands in his pockets, he let his mind wander, mostly going over what Leon had said. What they had all been tiptoeing around, and Leon was the only one who had the guts to say it. Morgana had said it many times, and he wished he could stop hearing it. He was over Richard. How could he love a man that never actually loved him? Still, what he did hurt.

Thinking back to the barbecue, he remembered his ex, laughing at Colin; the escort was a pathetic sight to see. Arthur didn’t feel pathetic when he was with him, though. Even when he was stood over him, helping him with a bleeding nose, he wasn’t embarrassed by him. All he remembered from that barbecue was feeling _good_. Colin was proving to be good at his job, because Arthur did feel comfortable around him. He had probably told the escort more on their dates than he had to people he had known a lot longer.

Checking his phone, he wondered why he was checking his call history, finger hovering over the last number to call him. This was ridiculous, he thought. Maybe he just found Colin easy to talk to, but that didn’t mean anything, right? That stupid fool, with his one-minute bumbling and the next professionally suave nature, with his ridiculously giant grin… Where was he going with this?

He heard Leon come beside him, having been outside a bit longer than necessary. His mind seemed to have got a bit… lost.

“I’m sorry,”

“You’re right,” Arthur dropped his head to his chest, “I don’t even like Richard!”

“Doesn’t mean what he did won’t hurt,” Leon shrugged regrettably, unable to help Arthur through this struggle.

Both stood together in silence for a few minutes, but Leon was here to say more.

“Colin sounds nice,” he spoke tentatively, and Arthur knew he might have overreacted to the questions. They didn’t know Colin wasn’t his real boyfriend.

“He is,”

“I’m sure whatever problems you might be having, you could figure it out.”

Arthur scoffed softly, _if only he knew_.

“You should at least try,”

“He’s not…” struggling, Arthur grasped for the right words, “we just can’t…”

“Do you like him?”

No. That was the answer. Right? He was nice, he was someone to chat to, but did he _like_ him?

“I don’t know,” he whispered, not ready to even admit his uncertainty to himself.

“Maybe the only problem you’re having is your trust.”

Arthur fought the urge to scoff again this time, because even if that was an issue, there was one other _huge_ issue.

“I don’t think he likes me,”

“What?”

“It’s complicated,” it might have been easier if he just confessed to Leon.

“Gwaine thinks he likes you,”

“What does Gwaine know?”

Leon shrugged, “none of us know, but you can find out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, I'm not totally sure how I feel about this chapter. This is the one that's bugged me most so far, but hopefully Arthur's not too OOC! 
> 
> Thanks for all the lovely comments and for the support guys, I'm really glad with the response this fic has got!


	9. He's A Prat

“Merlin, the phone won’t ring just because you keep staring at it,” Gaius sighed. Merlin perked his head up at the old man, his arms resting on the table where he had buried his head previously. 

“What?” Scoffing, he scrunched his face, “I’m not waiting for anything.”

Gaius raised a brow but said nothing. That was always worse. In fact, Merlin didn’t like it when Gaius was silent or when he was berating him. In his defence, he had a lot on his plate.

“Haven’t you got some work to be doing?” Gaius dropped whatever it was he was holding, deciding instead to distract Merlin from – definitely not – staring at his phone.

Merlin shrugged, sitting up straighter but eyes still darting between Gaius and his phone. “My supervisor’s just researching something and then she’s going to get back to me, so, no.”

“What about other work?”

“Nope, I’m completely free.”

“I’m almost certain it won’t last,” Gaius smirked.

“Just let me enjoy the moment.” Merlin rolled his eyes, dropping his head back down to rest on his arms.

It had been a few days now since Morgana had been at the pharmacy, when she hinted that there was going to be a company party, _amongst other things_ … Still, there had been no word about a potential job.

“Why are you looking so glum?” Gaius interrupted his thoughts, “I thought you were enjoying your freedom.”

“I’m not glum,” Merlin frowned.

“Maybe you should try looking in the mirror and then tell me you’re not glum.”

Merlin shot him a petulant look, but said no more. Why would he be glum? He was just bored; he never had this much free time, he didn’t know what he was supposed to do with it. Picking up his phone, he spun it around with his fingers over and over, whistling with boredom. He would text Lance, but he had a job so was unavailable.

Hearing Gaius sigh again, he looked up and saw the old man’s eyes on him again. The pharmacist appeared more frustrated than before, causing Merlin to slowly place his phone down.

“Merlin, are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?”

“Nothing’s bothering me.” Except, maybe something was. What Freya and Lance had been saying to him, what Morgana had insinuated when she last saw him… it was beginning to bug him. He was even beginning to think they might be on to something.

But no. He couldn’t _like_ Arthur, the man was a client. And apart from that, he was an idiot! So, then, why was he waiting for the booking to come through? And why wasn’t the booking coming through? Morgana had pretty much assured him Arthur would hire him. But Arthur had said he had no need for him any more. Which was fair enough. Not many people did need escorts for a long period of time. Eventually, they either became more independent or found someone they actually liked. What did it matter? Why, when Arthur had said it, did he feel a sense of sadness?

Shaking his hands through his hair, he blew out a long breath, once again distracting Gaius from his own work. Having the grace to look apologetic, he decided he should probably leave Gaius alone before the pharmacist forced him to reveal all. And then berate him for it.

Grabbing his coat, he told Gaius he was just going out, and hurried out. Will would be leaving work soon, maybe he could bother him for a while.

* * *

“You’re never free,” Will eyed Merlin sceptically as he sipped his coffee, having been persuaded to come out for a bit. Not _out_ out, which Will had wanted, because Merlin had already spent a couple of his nights that week out with clients and he was beginning to detest it.

“It’s not my fault!” Merlin almost shouted, “I’ve got a lot on.” Shoulders slumping, he put on his most pathetic look so Will would be appeased.

“Fine,” his friend caved, but Merlin knew it was only because they hadn’t seen each other in a while. “So, what’s new? Still doing that escort stuff?”

Merlin shushed his friend, who found it too amusing, “I don’t need everybody knowing about it.”

“Fine, fine, but are you?”

“Yeah,” raking a hand through his hair, his lips turned into a thin line, “it pays well, but not enough. How about you? How’s work?”

“Same old,” Will shrugged, “being paid very little, I’ll say I’m going to quit but won’t. You know the drill,”

Merlin grinned, they really had been round this a few times. Will was a good friend, but they both knew he was not proactive when it came to pretty much anything. He complained about his work time and time again, convincing himself he would get another job, then would be there the next day complaining about the same things.

They sat and chatted for a while, mostly just about what things were like at home, Merlin realising he should call his mother at some point and Will confirming that he really should. He missed her a lot, but he was so busy, and she was busy too, so a lot of the time their timetables just got too mixed up.

“So, what’s the real reason you wanted to hang out?” Will finally asked, almost ready to leave.

“What?” Frowning innocently, Merlin rubbed his hands over his trouser to get rid of any stray crumbs.

“Come on, Merlin, we don’t hang out often. Usually one of us has news or something,”

Merlin’s eyes darted to the ground, and he knew with that movement Will had got him.

“I sort of… met someone,” he admitted, more to himself than Will, even.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” smiling softly, Merlin thought about what he was admitting to. What it meant. “But, he’s a _client_ ,” his smile swiftly fell as he cleared his throat.

“A client?” Will looked at him as if he were made, “you’ve fallen for a client?”

“Keep your voice down,” Merlin hushed him again, annoyed because he already knew how ridiculous it was.

“Sorry, but he’s a client.”

“I know,”

“Can you even date a client? Does he like _you_? Would he date an escort?”

“You’re taking this a lot worse than I am,” Merlin chuckled, “but it’s never come up. I don’t think there’s anything against dating a client? And I don’t know if he’s going to be my client for longer, anyway.” Having left his business phone at home, he wondered if he had any messages from Freya. He didn’t know whether to get his hopes up, especially now he had just admitted to an actual person that he thinks he likes Arthur. “I don’t know if he likes me, and I don’t know if he’d date an escort.”

“What’s he like?”

“Er, he’s a bit of a prat really. I’ve only really met him a couple of times, but he’s actually a decent guy. Not my usual type looks-wise, but definitely attractive. We sort of… fit, if you know what I mean?”

“How can you know that after only meeting him a couple of times?”

Merlin frowned, “I don’t know. There’s just something, like when we see each other or chat, we just sort of know what to say. There’s no awkwardness,”

“So, you’re sure you like him? What impression is he giving you?”

Merlin honestly didn’t know, but he wouldn’t be able to tell if someone actually said to his face they liked him. Freya said Arthur liked him, but how could she possibly know? “He’s a nice guy,” Merlin offered instead, “and he got me a shirt when I ruined mine on one of our dates.”

“He bought you a gift?” Will sat back in his chair, crossing his arms haughtily, “does he think he owns you or something?”

“Of course not! He was just being nice,” Merlin’s voice turned into a whisper, “it’s not like he got me one of those _other_ gifts.”

“How can you be sure he’s not trying to win you over like that, though?”

“He’s not like that, Will.”

“Even if he isn’t, how can you know he’d even date an escort? You know most people run as soon as they hear that.”

“I know,” sighing, Merlin was beginning to regret coming to talk to Will about this. He might have had better luck with Gaius. He understood Will’s concerns, but he wasn’t even fully sure about his own feelings, how could he start considering Arthur’s? “But it can work, Lance has a girlfriend, and they’ve been doing well.”

“Lance is only one person,”

“You’re wrong, Will.”

“Maybe I am,” shaking his head, he leant forward, smoothing his features into something kinder. “You’re my friend, Merlin, I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

Merlin smiled finally, “I’m an adult, I am capable of looking after myself.”

“Doesn’t mean you have to stop coming round,” Will pouted, “I haven’t seen you for a while.”

Ah, so that’s what had gotten him so defensive.

“You know I’m busy,” Merlin tried, “soon I’ll be able to chat more.”

“Hm…” Will stroked his chin, “alright. Fine. But if you do get with this client, then, you’d better tell me first.”

* * *

Arriving home rather late, he tried (and failed) to enter the house without waking Gaius. Usually the old man was a heavy sleeper, but apparently today Merlin’s luck had run out. Gaius didn’t say much, but Merlin knew he would probably get it all tomorrow. It was hardly his fault someone had put some pans right at the edge of the table, and in his attempts to tiptoe through the apartment he had knocked it off.

Walking normally to his room now since there was no point being cautious if Gaius was going to have words with him anyway, he locked his door and threw himself down on to the bed. Moving his hand blindly over his bedside table, he found the phone within a few seconds and brought it above his face, promptly dropping it.

Grumbling, he glanced through, his eyes immediately spotting what he had been waiting for. What he had been too eagerly waiting for. Of course, in the message from Freya, she had not been so subtle about how she felt on the matter. If they did get together, or Merlin admitted his apparent feelings for Arthur – which were still really only just emerging – then Freya would certainly never let him forget that she was right.

He already pressed the call button before he remembered what time it was. Eyes widening, he grasped the phone quickly, too quickly, and dropped it. Hands rummaging over the bed, he grabbed it, but realised someone had already picked up.

“Hello,” he said lamely, acting as if he had not called so late.

“Hi, Colin. Do you know what time it is?” Arthur sounded amused; Merlin hated that.

“Er, yes. Obviously,” checking the clock on his bedside table, he found it to be a little – lot – later than he had first thought. “Sorry, I’ve been busy and just thought if you answered, you answered.”

“Well, fortunately for you, I’m wide awake,”

“Okay, great.”

“I’m guessing this is about the party?”

“Yeah,”

There was a pause, filled by Arthur bemused, “are you awake?”

“Yes!” Merlin sat up properly, trying to focus. He was tired, though. Why had he called him _now_? “Alright, well anyway, the party.”

“The party. Will you come?”

“No, don’t really fancy it,” Merlin teased.

“You don’t have a choice, Colin.” Arthur shot right back, and Merlin remembered what he had been saying to Will. It was easy for them to fall into this back and forth, something he couldn’t do with many others. “You still there? Haven’t fallen asleep?”

“Shut up. Fine, I’ll come. Who’s being promoted? Anybody I know?”

“Yes,” Arthur’s tone took on a morose tone, “Richard’s.”

Merlin hesitated, not knowing what exactly he should say to that. Richard’s? How could it be _Richard’s_? Why would _Arthur_ be going to _Richard’s_ party? His _promotion_ party?

“I’m taking it by that silence that you’re just as bewildered as I am,” Arthur interrupted his thoughts once again. “My father and I exchanged many harsh words on the matter,”

“I bet,”

“He expects me there, though, as his successor to the company.” Arthur didn’t sound best pleased about that factor, either. Merlin wanted to ask him again why he didn’t just leave the company, but it was late, and right now the anger was on Richard. Morgana must not have known it would be Richard being promoted, and Merlin wondered what advice she had given to Arthur. She would probably fill him in when he got there.

“Alright, I suppose I can come to your rescue, then.”

“I don’t need rescuing,”

“Then why did you book me?”

Silence met him from the other end, Merlin waited awkwardly. “It’s easier to hire an escort I know than a cheaper one.”

Merlin let go of a breath he didn’t know he had been holding, disappointed by the answer. Would he be able to cope on this date, knowing now he might have feelings for Arthur?

“Maybe I’ll start raising my prices if that’s the case.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks guys so much, I honestly didn't expect such a response for this fic, but it's made me so happy that you guys are enjoying this! 
> 
> Don't worry, we will have more Gaius in future chapters!


	10. Call Me Merlin

“What do you think? Should I go?” Arthur asked, out of nowhere. Why was he even asking? They were already in the car, on the way to the party, they couldn’t just turn back now.

Could they?

“What?”

“Do you think I should go?”

“Er,” Colin hesitated, annoying Arthur, “it’s not really my place to say, is it?”

“I’m asking you, though. Isn’t it your job to make the client happy?”

“Are you sure this will make you happy?”

Arthur shrugged, gesturing for him to tell him anyway.

“Alright,” Colin sighed, “I think you’re mad.”

Surprising himself, Arthur released a laugh, but quickly frowned, “well, I suppose it didn’t make me happy.”

Colin didn’t appear to upset about that, “you did ask.” After a moment, he continued, “but I meant it’s mad that you’d go to this. Richard is your _ex,_ right? I saw how he was with you, if my ex was half as arrogant, I certainly wouldn’t want to go to anything celebrating him.”

Arthur went quiet, considering it. Colin might be an oaf, but he could be right sometimes. Sometimes.

“Maybe,” hesitating, Arthur set his jaw, “maybe I shouldn’t go.”

“What?”

“You _just_ said-”

“I know what I just said,” Colin shook his head, “but won’t your dad kill you if you don’t go?”

“Nah,” Arthur honestly didn’t know. He wasn’t his father’s favourite person at the moment, and maybe, given the excuse, he might just get rid of him. “He’ll need me when he retires,”

“And he won’t mind if his successor skips this event?” Colin eyed him sceptically, clearly having no faith in anything he had said. It was difficult enough for Arthur to believe it, but if Colin wasn’t even going to try, it would be worse.

“I’ll tell him I was ill,”

“Arthur,”

“Colin, do _you_ really want to spend your precious time at this thing?”

“It’s not up to me,”

“No, but it is up to me.”

Colin didn’t respond, but his expression became grave and Arthur knew he had won out. Whether this was the best or worst decision he would ever make he would find out eventually. Thinking about it, it was more likely Morgana would murder him once she realised she was going to be left alone at this engagement. He felt for her, but not enough. Leon was right as well; he still was not over what Richard had done. Was still doing, stood by his father who belittled him, too. There were better ways he could spend his evening.

“Alright,” Colin broke, “what do you want to do?”

He hadn’t got to that part yet, only deciding he definitely _did not_ want to go to this stupid event. “I don’t know,” Arthur wondered, “what would you do?”

“I don’t know!”

“Alright,” whistling, Arthur smirked, “keep your hair on.”

“You could have let me know before we started driving that we were not going to this event.”

“I didn’t know then,”

“You’ve paid for the evening, you know?”

“I know,”

“No refunds.”

“Who said anything about you leaving?” Arthur turned to him, “we can do something else.”

“Oh,”

Arthur scrolled through his phone, looking for any events nearby. Unfortunately, many required tickets, and with such short notice many were sold out.

“There’s the circus,” he spotted, sounding less than enthused.

“I love the circus!” Arthur lifted his head quickly, eyes squinting at the escort who had cheered up a bit at the mention of the circus.

“Of course you do,” rolling his eyes, he clicked the link, “because you have the mind of a child.”

“And yet I’m still more intelligent than you,” Colin murmured, but spotted Arthur’s scowl directed at him. “Are there any other options?”

Arthur sighed, “no.” In truth, he hadn’t looked very hard. The circus wasn’t a terrible idea, and Colin had seemed less himself since he arrived, and was even more put out since they weren’t following the original plan, so it was fair to let him have a say in what they did do. “Alright, the circus, then.”

“Okay,” Colin smiled, but not like he usually did, he was holding something back. “What time’s it at?”

“Not for another hour or so? We could go for something to eat, first.”

“Alright.”

* * *

“It’s a shame we didn’t go to the party,” Arthur smirked as he ate, “you could have shown me some of your dancing skills.”

Colin blinked slowly, “I never should’ve told you that.”

“What?” Laughing, Arthur shook his head, “I’m just surprised you actually have a skill.”

“I have many skills,”

“Oh? Do you ever use them?”

“If I’m so useless, why do you keep hiring me?”

“For continuity purposes,” he grinned. Colin tried to mirror it, but Arthur saw his heart wasn’t in it. “And you’re not completely irritating,” he added, trying to perk him up a bit. It worked a little, but the escort didn’t continue the banter. That’s all it was, really.

Arthur knew he was in deeper now than he imagined. Taking in his situation, he wondered, would this constitute as a _date_? Why had he asked Colin to come out with him, when he could have just gone home? He didn’t even care for the circus, and yet, he had now invited his escort to go.

“How’s Morgana?” The escort asked in the silence.

“She’s fine,” nodding, Arthur wondered what interest Colin had in her. He seemed to like her, did she like him, too? He knew he had joked about with Colin the last time they were out, but he didn’t have a clue who Morgana liked, really.

“Good,” he smiled, almost one of his genuine smiles, and Arthur felt something strange in himself. He shook it off, afraid he knew what the feeling was. “You’re a bit quiet,” Colin frowned, and Arthur realised he had been rather quiet. The escort’s strange attitude was throwing him off, bringing up all kinds of thoughts he was trying to pretend he didn’t have.

“Sorry,” Arthur pressed his lips into a thin line. “I’m just trying to think of something I could ask you.” At Colin’s frown, he elaborated, “there are only so many things you can tell the truth about, right?”

Colin ducked his head, and Arthur waited, wondering why he had even said what he had. When his head came back up though, eyes staring directly into his, he smiled and said, “just ask, and I’ll tell you if I can’t answer.”

“Sounds like a terrible game,” Arthur laughed awkwardly, refusing to acknowledge any feelings he thought were rising up as Colin’s eyes didn’t move from his. “Now I can’t think of any questions,”

Chuckling, properly, for the first time that night, Colin moved his eyes finally. “Alright, how about I ask you one? And you can ask me something equally personal.”

“Seems fair,”

“If you don’t want to work for your father any more, why don’t you leave?”

Arthur gulped, expecting the question, but still surprised by it. “You’ve just gone straight in there,” he laughed. “I guess, it’s just easy. It’s easier for me to stay. I know what I’m doing there, it gives me security. Apart from that, I don’t know.”

“What would you like to do? Instead?”

“Aren’t I supposed to ask a question, now?”

“You can have two next time,”

“Fine,” shrinking into his chair, he thought about it. He’d never really told anybody what he would _like_ to be doing. “I’d like to do something to help people,” he voiced, wondering why he was not afraid to open up to Colin. “My father’s company is cold, he takes money from people, he’ll lay people off without a second thought, and it’s full of people who will do anything to get to the top.” He paused, and they both knew why. “I’d rather spend my time doing something worthwhile, I suppose.”

“I know what you mean,” Colin nodded, understandingly. And maybe that’s why Arthur was telling him everything. Because all he did on his dates with Arthur was listen and observe and offer some advice occasionally. He enjoyed voicing these things, to someone who took him seriously, and didn’t call him ungrateful or lazy or unrealistic. Someone who wasn’t trying to tell him what to do but was making him see what he had to do for himself.

“One day, I will leave,” Arthur heard himself say it, and wondered how much conviction he had.

“You should believe in yourself, Arthur, and maybe, one day, you’ll be great at something you want to do.” Colin held his gaze seriously, and Arthur knew he was right. He and Morgana were right, he needed to do something.

“Alright, my turn,” he coughed, “I guess on similar lines then, how long have you been an escort?”

“Hm… about two years now, I think.” His eyes finally moved away, thinking about it.

“Do you want to stay an escort?”

“Not really,” he shrugged, “but needs must.”

“Do you like doing it?”

Colin raised an eyebrow on question number three, but didn’t say anything about it. Crossing his arms, he mirrored Arthur’s comfortable slouch, “I don’t _hate_ it, I suppose. I enjoy the nice clients, and luckily, they are the majority, but… others make me regret it. I told you about the presents people send me, the blatant disregard of the rules I set, it’s horrible.”

Arthur wanted to tell him he was glad he was doing it, because he was glad to have met him properly after their bump in the street. He stopped himself, though, hearing Leon inside his head trying to urge him on. “Well, we’re both just miserable idiots, then.”

Colin smiled, a proper _Colin_ smile, for the first time that evening, and Arthur couldn’t help but copy it. “Is there anything else you want to know?”

Arthur thought about it, and decided to do some more fishing, “do you only take on male clients?” He was going to ask if Colin liked Morgana, but tried to do it gradually, casually.

“I take both, it doesn’t matter to me since nothing’s going to happen.”

Arthur tried to ignore the sense of… whatever it was, if anything, at the thought of nothing ever happening. “What about outside of work?” He probably could have phrased it better, a lot better. The look of surprise on Colin’s face told him he _definitely_ could have phrased it better.

“This game got forward fast,” Colin chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head. “I suppose it’s not _too_ much information… I usually prefer the company of my own sex,”

Arthur laughed, loudly. Colin looked taken aback, so he quickly reassured him, “I’ve just never known such an awkward way to put it,”

Colin scowled, but Arthur could see the grin, “alright, game over.”

“Oh, but it was just getting interesting!”

“You’ve had too many questions,” Colin shook his head, “it’s my turn now.”

Colin began his questioning, and Arthur didn’t mind answering. He was beginning to enjoy himself, as he did when he was with the escort.

* * *

The circus turned out to be rather enjoyable, too, Arthur admitted. Colin had found it a lot more entertaining, and Arthur found that Colin’s stupid enjoyment of it made him smile, too. He knew as soon as he stepped into that circus, and Colin had asked him if he had seen something, and he hadn’t because he had been focusing on something – someone – else, that he was in too deep. Leon had been right. All of his friends had been right, and he hated them for it.

“Sorry for messing up the plans,” he sat in the car, outside his flat, making no move to leave. He noticed that they were now off the clock, that he was not paying for this time, but Colin didn’t ask him to go.

“No need,” Colin seemed so much happier now, “this is probably one of the best jobs I’ve had. I’ll have to try and convince my other clients not to go where they intend but to take me to the circus instead.”

“Good luck with that,” Arthur grinned softly. He shifted in his seat, knowing he should go. Thinking he should say goodbye to Colin now, and forget about it. Maybe Leon was right about finding out too, though. Maybe Gwaine was right that Colin liked him – wait, no. Gwaine was never right.

“Will Morgana be annoyed that you left her?” Colin asked quietly. Arthur no longer felt that feeling – that he refused to admit he had felt in the first place – at the mention of his sister, knowing what he now knew about his escort.

“No doubt,” he sighed, “I don’t think telling her I went to the circus with you will make her any happier.”

“Probably not,” Colin laughed, “maybe try and come up with something else?”

“If you have any good ideas, I’m all ears.” At Colin’s silence, he threw his hands up, “I knew you had no skills.”

Colin huffed, “I have plenty, but surprisingly they’re not all centred around you.”

“What if we went dancing?” Arthur asked, eyes widening as he said it too seriously, and Colin noticed. “My friend, he’s, er, there’s a party.” He cleared his throat, hating himself for bottling it, but hoping this might buy him some time.

“Okay…?”

“It’s not for a couple of weeks, but you could come and prove to me this skill of yours does exist,”

Colin smiled again, but it was the same as the one he had earlier, and Arthur didn’t know what it meant. “I can do that, you’d have to go through Freya first though, officially.”

Oh. Of course. Arthur was and wasn’t asking him _officially._

“Okay,” he whispered, “yeah, I will. Make sure you can come, or I’ll assume you were lying to me,” he grinned, trying to bring back their banter.

“I don’t have to prove myself to you,”

“Already stepping back from the challenge I see,” opening the door, he finally began to make his exit. “Coward,”

“Oh, I’ll be there,” Colin huffed.

Arthur couldn’t stop his smile, “goodnight, Colin.”

“Arthur,” Colin hesitated, and Arthur waited, holding on to the door. “It- It’s Merlin. Call me Merlin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the later update guys, but thanks so much for the lovely comments and continuing support! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far :) 
> 
> Stay safe everyone!


	11. Merlin is a Name!

Merlin put his head in his hands, trying to pretend nothing had happened. How could he have told Arthur his name? His _real_ name? Had he been too forward, too obvious? Would Arthur try and find out more about him? Was it a bad thing if he did?

After shouting into his hands for a couple of minutes, he took a breath. He needed to appear calm in front of Gaius, or he might just end up asking him for advice. He hadn’t told him anything about the escort business really, because how do you mention that sort of thing to your basically adoptive father? The only other people he could ask though were equally dour options: Will, who would make him worry about even more things he hadn’t thought about; Lance, who would tell him to go to Freya; and Freya, who would gloat. Sometimes, in desperation, he would even start a conversation with Gaius’ bearded dragon, but since he couldn’t talk Merlin ended up just answering himself anyway. He needed to expand his social circle, but it was too late now.

Right now, he had another problem, too. And it started ringing. Eyes widening, he remembered the phone which he had settled to sort out that morning, but now it seemed like somebody else had beaten him to it. Calming his breathing again, he answered, hoping the caller couldn’t sense his anxiety through the phone.

“Hello?” Merlin recognised the voice instantly and tried again to calm down.

“Hi, Arthur,”

“Oh, Merlin,” it was strange, hearing his real name from a client. Still, he felt an odd, but nice, sensation spark through him for a moment at that client being Arthur. “Did I leave my phone in the car?”

“Mhm,” Merlin began to find his voice, “I can drop it off at your flat?” Frowning, he wondered what times he actually had free today. He was sure he had the morning, probably, but he had been hoping to spend that overanalysing his ‘date’ with Arthur. “I’ve got a busy afternoon, though.”

“Hm, in that case, could you bring it to my office instead?”

“Er, yeah, sure.” Oh? Oh, _could he?_ “What’s the address?”

Arthur waited until he noted it down to whisper, “oh, by the way, try and avoid my father. He’s not all happy with either of us.”

Merlin groaned.

* * *

Luckily, when not dressed up for one of his escort dates – but still dressed well because apparently, he was allowing himself to go along with his ridiculous crush – he was quite unnoticeable. The only person who did spot him was Gwaine, who Merlin remembered Arthur had given him the go-ahead to trust, so he stopped to chat with him for a few minutes.

“Colin!” Gwaine seemed delighted, and Merlin briefly wondered if he could keep their friendship when Arthur inevitably dropped him as an escort. “Arthur told me you were patching things up,” he smiled gleefully, clapping the escort on the back.

“Er, yeah,” Merlin didn’t really know what he was talking about, but smiled along in case it blew Arthur’s cover.

“And you’re coming to the party, right?” The party? Oh, the party.

He shrugged and nodded at the same time, glad to hear though that Gwaine would be there, too. 

“The others will be looking forward to meeting you,”

“Really?” Merlin was startled, surprised he had even been mentioned to ‘the others’. He grinned, although suddenly he wondered what exactly had been said about him.

Gwaine nodded enthusiastically, “they already prefer you to Richard,” leaning in, he whispered, “but we both know that’s not exactly difficult.” Sharing a chuckle, Merlin tried not to wonder if anything bad had been said about him, but thought at least it seemed Gwaine would only speak positively of him. “Anyway, I assume you’re here to see Arthur,”

“Yeah, do you know where his office is?”

* * *

Merlin smirked at Arthur’s head roll when Gwaine escorted him in, apparently his and Gwaine’s friendship was more love to hate. Arthur waited until his colleague left the room to properly welcome Merlin, offering him the seat from across the desk. He was only there to return the phone and probably didn’t have time for anything else, but when Arthur offered to get him a tea, he couldn’t find a refusal to give.

“So, your father didn’t appreciate you skipping the party for the circus, hm?”

Arthur shook his head regretfully, “I gave him some excuse, but he’s refusing to speak to me until I apologise for my actions.”

Merlin sputtered, and carefully put his mug down, “how old are you again?”

Rolling his eyes, Arthur shared his disbelief, “thankfully old enough not to be grounded.”

Merlin laughed now; glad he had put his drink down beforehand.

“I’m glad you find it so amusing,” the escort covered his mouth, but couldn’t hide the wide grin behind it. He sometimes thought Gaius could be over the top, but was glad now he had this to compare it to.

“When will you apologise, then?”

“When Hell freezes over!”

“So, should I expect an invite to a company event in the next few weeks?” Merlin raised his brow, knowing Arthur would soon bow to his father’s wishes. He needed to stand up to him, but if Morgana was yet to get through to him, there was no point in Merlin spouting the same advice.

Arthur shot him a withering glare but didn’t rise to it, instead ruffling through some paperwork with obvious contempt. “Haven’t you got somewhere to be anyway, _Mer_ lin?”

He paused, tensing, and Arthur noticed. “I can go back to calling you Colin, if you want.” He spoke seriously, steepling his fingers.

Merlin shook his head quickly, “no,” he laughed nervously, “it’s just odd hearing it from a client.”

Arthur coughed awkwardly, “to be honest, if you had told me your name was Merlin first, I never would have believed you. Colin is much more believable,”

“Merlin’s a name!”

“I don’t doubt it,” Arthur smirked, scrunching his nose as he teased the escort, “but Colin’s more believable as a _real_ name, I’d would’ve thought.”

Merlin crossed his arms, “when I told you my name, I didn’t think this was the main issue I’d be having from you.”

“Oh,” Arthur leaned across the desk, “what else did you think I’d do?”

“Er,” shuffling awkwardly on the seat, the escort realised he had backed himself into a corner. Obviously, he had not thought Arthur would do something malicious, but it had crossed his mind that he might try to find out more information about him. “I don’t know,” he shrugged, but his eyes gave him away and Arthur sat back in his seat.

“You thought I’d look you up,” Merlin felt his client’s eyes on him, feeling as if he had betrayed him for even thinking about it.

“I don’t know,” he put his arms up, “I’ve never told anyone before.”

“I didn’t,” Arthur spoke softly, looking him straight in the eye.

Merlin found it hard to distrust him, “thank you.”

They sat in silence for a time, letting the air settle. Merlin felt more confident now, better than he had that morning. He felt he could trust Arthur with his name, at least. Hopefully his client understood his suspicions, though, that were not personal.

“I’d better go,” he sighed, checking his watch regretfully.

“Yes,” Arthur nodded, clearing his throat. “To do whatever it is you do…?” His eyes were questioning, but playful, and Merlin scoffed.

“Nice try,” shrugging his coat on, he shook his head, “but next time, maybe go for something subtle.”

“I guess, you’re not that smart so you won’t notice. Fair point.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Arthur was too busy looking proud at his insult to care for Merlin’s indignation, so the escort let it slide.

“I’ll call Freya about that party, by the way.”

“Oh yeah,” Merlin paused, “how do you have so many events to go to?”

“It’s something to do with being popular, Merlin, I’m not sure you’d understand.”

“I’ve heard your friends will be glad to meet me.”

Arthur frowned for a moment, but Merlin saw the minute he realised Gwaine had been babbling on and revealing things he probably shouldn’t. “Don’t let it get to your head, they don’t get out much.” He ground out, but Merlin’s smile never fell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for the continuing love! This chapter is a bit shorter than usual and it's been really bugging me to write it, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless :)
> 
> Stay safe everyone!


	12. A Perfect Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Set just before/at the same time as the previous chapter -

Arthur lay the phone down on his desk, still being able to hear the mutterings of his father down the phone. Occasionally he would mention that he wasn’t a child and that he had been ill, but Uther continued his rant. Eventually the old man realised Arthur was not actually listening to him and told him to call him when he was ready to make amends. Arthur rolled his eyes, happily switching off the line and vowing not to call back any time soon.

Trying to relax, kicking his feet up on the desk, he decided not to dwell on his father’s issues too much. Unfortunately, fate had other plans, and his sister decided to visit at that moment to go over everything he just had with Uther.

“Uther tells me you were ill?” Morgana smirked, eyeing him suspiciously. Closing the door with a soft click, she draped herself over the chair opposite him, ready to hear his excuses.

“How was it?” Arthur asked instead.

“How do you think?” Her face turned sour as she crossed her legs, running a hand through her hair. “It was dull, and I had to put up with Gwaine’s chattering,”

Arthur and his sister did not have many things in common, but their feelings for Gwaine were very much the same. “Yes, he told me he had an excellent evening,” he couldn’t help the smile making its way across his face, despite the death glare Morgana sent him in return.

“And you were out enjoying yourself, right?”

“I thought I was ill?”

“You haven’t convinced Uther, what makes you think you could convince me?” Holding her head high, she gave off a confidence many admired but could not emulate.

“What makes you think I’d tell you the truth?”

“If you don’t, I can come up with something more interesting to tell Uther, I suppose.”

Arthur’s smile fell in an instant, “you wouldn’t.”

“Maybe I don’t even want to hear the truth anymore,” she was bluffing. She had to be. Arthur knew her too well, well enough to know she probably was not. This is what he got for leaving her with Gwaine.

Huffing, he caved, “fine, I decided I didn’t want to go.”

“Yes, I got that,” Morgana rolled her eyes and leaned in, “what did you do instead?”

“Would you leave me in peace if I told you I went home?”

Morgana squinted her eyes mockingly, and he knew it wouldn’t work.

“Alright, I just went for food with Me- Colin.”

“Oh?”

“And maybe we went to the circus, afterwards.” Arthur trailed off lamely, waiting for the tirade that was likely to follow.

There was nothing but silence though, as Morgana appeared to simply mull this over, “I thought you hated the circus. Do you remember, when we were children-”

“I remember,” he spoke through gritted teeth, not needing his childhood traumas hashed up.

“It’s one of my fondest memories,” she smiled maliciously.

“I’m glad,”

“Why did you go, then?”

Arthur shrugged, “it was the only interesting thing to do, and Colin didn’t mind it.”

“Ah, I see,” she nodded, knowingly, causing Arthur to shake his head.

“What? You _see_ what?”

Morgana’s smile only grew, and it was beginning to irritate Arthur to know end, “nothing.” She shook her head, getting up. “I’m glad you had a good time,”

He stared at her for a moment, and she stared right back, until understanding dawned and he jumped from his chair. “It was just the circus!”

“And a meal,” Morgana chimed, “sounds like a perfect date.”

Arthur’s jaw set, “it was _not_ a date.”

“Whatever you say,”

“He’s an escort, Morgana,” he clenched his fists for a second.

“So? Escorts still have real lives, you know.”

“I’m a client, though. There are probably rules against it or something,” he sighed, realising then that he was slowly moving from denial to wondering. He sat back down with a thud, blinking slowly.

Morgana was understanding enough to lose her smirk, sitting herself on the edge of his desk to speak to him properly. “Sometimes you’ve got to do what you think is right,” she swung her legs gently. “Did you enjoy yourself, at the circus?”

After he hesitated, apparently for too long, Morgana scoffed, “I’ve never seen you think so hard.”

Glaring up at her, he replied, “I don’t know.” Based on her stare, that was the wrong answer. “It was fine, I suppose.”

Rolling her shoulders, Morgana shook her head, “Arthur.”

He sighed, thinking about it. He had enjoyed it, it was probably in his top three of fun things he had done in years. Maybe he just needed to get out more, though. But then Merlin had told him his name, too, and it felt nice to be trusted by him.

“I’m taking that silence as a yes,” Morgana smiled softly.

“I never said that,” Arthur half-heartedly refuted, “he probably doesn’t even think about me, anyway. He’s good at his job, he was just doing what I asked him.” Wondering if Merlin had noticed his attempt to ask him out properly to the party, or was simply oblivious, Arthur sucked his teeth in.

“Nobody’s _that_ good to put up with you,” Morgana joked, but there was something in her expression suggesting she knew more. Arthur couldn’t figure it out, and decided maybe he could try and forget about it for the moment.

“Anyway,” he crossed his arms, leaning back so he didn’t hurt his neck looking up at her, “have you told father about your departure from the company? Or are you still labouring under the belief that he listens to your advice so rarely he won’t even notice you’re gone?”

Morgana, as mature as she had become, was not averse to kicking her sibling.

* * *

Arthur didn’t know why he had asked Merlin to bring his phone to his work, and then he couldn’t understand why he had asked Merlin to stay for a drink. He decided it was probably best to blame Morgana for it, since she had started to put ideas into his head. They were not there before, definitely not.

Sitting with Merlin, chatting, he felt like he always did with him, that he had known him longer than they actually had. Their conversations were easy, and Merlin’s rudeness only made him somehow more… He would not say it.

Their chat had made him more convinced that Merlin had probably been oblivious about how Arthur had asked him to the party. Maybe Arthur was kidding himself, but he supposed he could be optimistic, and after all, he knew the escort was clumsy and idiotic.

Locking the door once Merlin left, making sure Gwaine didn’t find his way in the office to gush about Merlin himself, – he realised at that moment he had never been more grateful Gwaine was straight – Arthur decided he could ask Leon now about the party.

_Was thinking of bringing someone to the party?_

Waiting, he drummed his fingers on his desk, wondering if perhaps he should get some work done. His father was already annoyed at him as it was, it might not do well to add more troubles to his list.

When his phone vibrated, he vowed to get his work done later.

_Colin?_

Arthur knew Leon was undoubtedly praying it was Colin, after he had tried convincing Arthur to give it a go. A part of him wanted to bring someone different, just so he would not have to listen to his friend tell him he told him so all night.

_Yeah, although the way you lot talk about him, I might just send him in my place._

_Sounds like a good idea. He’ll probably prefer our company to yours, too._

_Maybe neither of us will come._

_I’m glad you’re inviting him._

_I’ll only bring him if you do **not** go on about it. _

_I suppose I can agree to that._

Arthur knew that even if Leon did not mention it, the others certainly would. Gwaine was at the top of the list, since he had apparently already blurted to Merlin that Arthur had told his friends about him. He could hardly back out now, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another quick, short update. Hope you guys enjoy!


	13. How Fast the Night Changes

Merlin was pacing, looking down at the clothes he had eventually decided to go with after a gruelling afternoon ransacking his wardrobe. He had chosen the top that Arthur had gifted to him, but now wondered if maybe that was a bit too much. A bit too _obvious._

“You’re not… nervous, are you?” Freya gave Merlin a sidelong glance from her desk.

He scoffed, but stuttered in his answer – which was a _resounding **no** , _by the way – and could see she was not convinced. “What’s to be nervous about? It’s just a job, I’ve done lots of jobs.”

“Yeah, but this is different,” she linked her hands as she committed to the conversation, ignoring whatever paperwork she should be doing. “It’s not one of his family business events, this is a personal event.”

Merlin frowned as she wiggled her eyebrows at him, “I’ve been to loads of birthday parties.”

“None where the client knew your _real name,_ ” she raised her eyebrows, emphasising his defeat.

Stuttering again, he had no rebuke to offer.

“This could be your chance, Merlin. Get to know him more, get in with his friends.”

Merlin had already considered that, but wondered if he was overstepping boundaries. Freya had already reassured him that as long as Arthur stopped booking him as an escort, there was no issue with them dating. She had reassured him of it many times, in fact, hoping to convince him to just go for it.

“What should I do?” He whispered, allowing himself to show her his vulnerability.

“Show him the best you can be,” his friend offered, “be more open.”

“How? What can I even tell him?”

“Tell him about you, about _Merlin._ It’s okay to let him know the truth, you know?”

Merlin shuffled awkwardly on the spot, looking down at his feet. It went against every fibre of his being to tell a client anything about his real self, and he wondered if Arthur would even like the real him.

“Merlin,” Freya stared at him with a soft expression, “when was the last time you opened up to someone that wasn’t me, Lancelot, or Will?”

Again, he didn’t have an answer. He had given up on any dreams of romance he might have had long ago, it all seemed foreign to him now. There were barriers between him and his clients, so he never let things get too far, and he certainly had not had much trouble before now. The barriers had somehow then found their way into real life, because he had so much to do and an odd job that only caused potential love interests to leave.

“What’s the worst that can happen?” Freya sat back, “you’ll just lose a client.”

Arthur was, despite his irritating nature, fun to be around. If Merlin tried to get closer to him and it didn’t work out, he would have lost his most interesting client. The only client he ever really clicked with so quickly.

“I suppose,” he cleared his throat, “I could tell him some things.”

“Yes!” Freya beamed, throwing her arms up in a cheer, “finally, you’re listening to my advice.”

Merlin’s lips turned into a thin line, but Freya hardly noticed as she proceeded to give him more suggestions.

* * *

Merlin heard muffled voices in the flat as he went to knock, and he paused to try and listen. He recognised Morgana instantly, followed by Arthur who seemed to be asking his sister to leave. Smirking, Merlin decided to end whatever disagreement they were having and knocked on the door, listening as angry footsteps made their way to let him in.

“Colin,” Morgana shook her head as she took a breath, “Arthur will be ready in a moment. I’m just leaving,” she smiled, but gave him little time to say anything more than hello before she was out the door.

Frowning, Merlin decided to hover awkwardly by the door until his date was ready, which was quite a bit longer than a moment, but he could choose how to spend the time. He shouted through to the bedroom to remind Arthur he was there, the other man only grunting in response.

Finally, he came out, and Merlin couldn’t help his eyes roving from his head to his toes none too discretely. Hearing Arthur’s none too discrete chuckle before he cleared his throat, Merlin immediately focused his eyes and tried to play dumb, throwing an insult at his date. “Right, well, date’s over.” He sighed dramatically, checking his watch, “we might still have five minutes left of it, probably enough time for you to try _another_ outfit on. Or have you tried them all on?”

Arthur rolled his eyes, grabbing his coat as he playfully shoved Merlin out the way of the door. “There are worse ways to spend your time, _Mer_ lin.” He shot him a threatening glare, and Merlin gulped mockingly as he followed him out.

* * *

“Are you sure none of your family will be there?” Merlin joked, “because if you’ve tricked me into a family birthday party then I will leave now.”

“We’re in a moving car,”

Merlin shrugged, “I’d jump out right now.”

“Trust me, if we were going to one of my family’s parties, I’d be joining you on the tarmac.”

Chuckling, Merlin noticed Arthur sharing a grin, “but your friends are fine, though?”

“Mostly,” Arthur nodded reassuringly, “the most irritating one is Gwaine, and I think he might just be in love with you.”

“Shame, he’s not really my type,”

“Are you really in a position to be picky?” Arthur smirked at Merlin’s mock outraged expression, leaving the escort without a retort.

“Speaking of Gwaine, actually,” Merlin’s smile turned serious, “he called me Colin, when I saw him at your work.”

Arthur frowned, “did you think I’d tell him?”

“No, no,” Merlin quickly shook his head, “I just wondered… tonight, who will you introduce me as?”

Arthur’s frown deepened, and Merlin knew he probably hadn’t even thought about it. “I assumed we would go with Colin?”

Merlin nodded slowly.

“Could I…” Arthur hesitated after a pause, “who would you like to be introduced as?”

The escort paused, wondering what to say. “I’ll go with whatever you decide,”

“Would you mind, then, if I introduced you as Merlin?”

Merlin bit his lip, and the pair sat in an uncomfortable silence for a moment.

“I’ll go with Col-”

“Merlin’s fine,” he interrupted his date, nodding his head once firmly. He tempered down his smile but tried to show Arthur he really was fine with being introduced by his real name. He was probably more than fine, but he would just have to address those feelings later. “What will you tell Gwaine?”

* * *

“This is Merlin,” Arthur introduced him to the group, the quite intimidating group who seemed to be observing him like some specimen. “Colin’s his middle name, he uses it sometimes because it sounds more normal,” he spoke when they were about to object. Merlin shot him a quick glare at the second insult to his name, but couldn’t help grinning as Arthur’s friends introduced themselves and said hello to _him_ , Merlin.

After spending time with each of them, every single one of them taking to him after he easily participated in their banter against one another, he decided Gwaine was probably still his favourite. The rest were nice, though, and Merlin felt comfortable with them all. He found out that Leon was Arthur’s oldest friend, who had, like Gwaine, worked at Uther’s company but left and was now somewhere a lot better. Elyan was the brother of Gwen, who was friends with Arthur through Morgana. It turned out he was the easiest to pick on in the group, and they really did take advantage of it. And finally, Percy, an actual giant, was a friend of Gwaine’s, who Arthur preferred a great deal over Gwaine. A few more people arrived, but they were all different groups of Leon’s friends, and after introductions Merlin was pulled back by Gwaine to chat.

“Alright, I’ve given you a chance to settle in, but I invited you for a reason.” Arthur held out a hand to lift him from his seat, tilting his head towards an empty space. “You might want to watch this, lads, it’s going to be embarrassing.” Arthur whispered loudly to his friends, so Merlin dragged him along quickly as he huffed.

He listened to the music, tapped his foot for a few seconds as he got the beat, and tried to dance. His arms were flailing though, and he could see Arthur’s eyes boring into him, a grin easing its way across his face. Trying again, he just got worse, and decided to stop abruptly.

“Oh no,” Arthur threw his head back, “you were just getting into it!”

Merlin stared sternly at him, crossing his arms, “I’m skilful at proper dancing, not this sort.”

“Oh right, and what do you class as _proper_ dancing, then?”

“You know, ballroom dancing, that sort of thing.”

Arthur raised an eyebrow, staring at him for a moment, but then nodded, “alright.” Holding out his hands in position, he urged Merlin closer, “show me.”

Merlin made no move to do so, and at Arthur’s continuing stare he shrugged, “I usually lead, actually.”

His date threw his arms down, “alright, fine,” he sighed, now ushering the escort to be the lead.

“Alright,” Merlin tried to hide the blush rising up from his neck, but as he rested his hands in place, his body so close to Arthur’s he could almost feel his date’s heart beating, he couldn’t help it. Arthur, thankfully, didn’t say a word, but Merlin’s breath hitched when his feet automatically made their first move.

He could feel so many eyes on them, and a glance at Arthur’s own friends saw them grinning in confusion and delight. Merlin tried to ignore the pop music playing loudly in the background which only reminded him how odd this was, but the only other thing to think about was the tickle of Arthur’s breath against his skin, his hands in his, and if he thought too much about that then he would definitely be in trouble.

Arthur turned out to be rather skilled at ballroom dancing himself, Merlin noted, his mind bringing up painful memories of Elena’s dancing. Easing himself into it, forgetting about the others in the room, Merlin found his feet were not as anxious as he felt right now, and his skill finally shone through. It was so much better when he had someone to lead, and Arthur apparently made a good follower, which Merlin would find great pleasure in teasing him about later.

“I suppose I can give you this,” Arthur conceded, his feet moving seamlessly with Merlin’s, but his eyes focused on him.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” Merlin cocked an eyebrow, enjoying the dance enough now to feel more confident.

“Well, you’ve met my father,” Arthur spun gracefully, “he’s a traditional sort of man. This was just one of the things I learnt as a child.”

“What else?”

“This and that. Fencing was my favourite,”

“Yes, I can imagine you taking joy out of that sort of thing.” Merlin’s eyes met his as he dipped him, bringing him back slowly.

“As I can see how you’d enjoy dancing,” Arthur smirked as Merlin brought their little routine to an end.

He shook his head in exasperation as he heard clapping from Arthur’s friends, but stayed stood with Arthur on the dancefloor, both catching their breath. His date opened his mouth to say something, but Gwaine was next to them in a second.

“Alright, lads, mind if I have a go?” Gwaine winked at Arthur, and at that moment Merlin might have felt the same irritation his date did with his friend.

“With who?” He asked, pretending to still catch his breath so he might get out of it. He liked Gwaine, but he wasn’t here to spend time with him. Plus, nothing about the man screamed ballroom dancer, and Merlin just wanted to appreciate being able to dance with someone skilled.

“He can dance with Leon,” Arthur grinned cruelly, “it is his birthday, after all.”

Fortunately, Gwaine did not seem put out by this, but rather took the idea rather well. Perhaps too well; when Leon was dragged on to the dance floor with barely a word of explanation, Gwaine proving Merlin’s assumptions about his lack of rhythm were absolutely correct, he sent the pair an evil glare. What certainly didn’t help matters was Gwaine’s offering of a kiss when the dance finally ended. Merlin tried to look guilty, Arthur had no such intention.

* * *

“I’m surprised they’ve let you get away from them,” Arthur found him stood out in the garden, a few other strangers milling about.

Merlin kicked his foot off the wall, pushing himself forward towards Arthur, but his date shrugged and stood beside him instead. “They’re quite drunk,” Merlin grinned, “I’m not surprised they didn’t notice me leave.”

They stood in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, listening to the drunken partygoers in the garden each singing different songs appallingly, and Merlin wondered which one would be sick first.

“Her, over there,” Arthur pointed to a woman in the corner, out of nowhere, “she’s definitely going to go first.”

The escort was stunned into silence for a second, but grinned when Arthur faced him, remembering what he had told Will about his date.

Clearing his throat as they stared at each other perhaps a moment too long, he turned and pointed at someone else, a man stumbling backwards and forwards mumbling songs now rather than shouting them. “He’s our winner,” Merlin nodded, “I bet.”

Arthur cocked an eyebrow, acknowledging the challenge, and they both decided to settle and wait to see the outcome. “Where’d you learn to dance?”

“My mother,” Merlin sniffed, “I wasn’t the best as a child, but I got better when I started doing this.”

“What’s your mother like?”

Merlin frowned, “er, she’s my mother.” Arthur rolled his eyes, so he continued, “she’s always been there for me, and she raised me alone. I love her and admire her, but I have so much going on right now I’ve hardly seen her.” He dropped his head, sighing.

“Maybe you should give yourself a day off,”

“Maybe you should stop booking me for events,” his playful smile returned, and Arthur’s lips twitched at the familiar teasing.

“My father raised me alone, too,” Arthur’s tone turned serious once more, and Merlin couldn’t help but be pleased with the man being so open. He had thought it would be hard to try and tell Arthur more about himself, but it seemed to be going rather well. “Sometimes I wonder if he would have turned out differently if my mother was still around.”

Merlin stayed quiet, content with just listening to his date let out whatever he wanted to say.

“Do you not live near your family, then?” Arthur asked, plainly moving away from his own family for the moment.

“Sort of,” Merlin thought about it, “my mother doesn’t have a lot of money, but she wanted me to have more opportunities. She told me to come here, sent me to a close family friend who I help in his pharmacy. He’s pretty much family,” he smiled fondly, seeing Arthur slowly mirror it.

“So, you work in a pharmacy?” Appearing triumphant, Arthur raised his eyebrows and whispered, “are you sure you’re allowed to tell me that?”

Merlin groaned, “don’t make me regret it.” Shaking his head, he continued, “it’s just helping him out, though, it’s not my job really.”

“Ah, so that’s still top secret, eh?”

Considering it, Merlin wondered if he should tell Arthur about the PhD. Would it really make that much difference now? He had already revealed quite a lot to this prat who had managed to wrangle his way into Merlin’s life, what difference would it really make?

“Well,” he began, but was interrupted by the sound of heaving coming from the corner of the garden. Both of them turned to see Arthur’s choice had succumbed, and unfortunately for Merlin, his date was not a humble winner.

* * *

Stopping the car at a now very familiar spot, Merlin leaned comfortably into his seat, taking in the evening.

“I had a really good night,” he grinned. It was probably up there with the circus, and Merlin couldn’t help but hope there might be another event Arthur would be going to in the near future. Preferably not a family event, but he would still go either way.

“I’m glad,” Arthur smiled genuinely, turning in his seat to then confront the escort. “But, you never told me, what is it you do?”

Merlin chuckled, jutting out his chin as he fumbled with his fingers. “How about you? Have you left your job yet?”

Arthur scoffed, “it’s not been that long since we last met, I’ve only just got my father talking to me again after that fiasco.”

Merlin let out a loud laugh, remembering how Uther apparently didn’t care his son was a fully grown adult. His date did not appreciate his taking of the situation.

“Anyway,” Arthur let out a breath, his expression sobering, “he wants me to take charge of the company for a month or two, get a grip of things.”

The escort’s smile soon faded, and he frowned, “will you do it?”

“Of course,”

“But you don’t want to work there?”

“There’s more to it than that,” Arthur sighed, crossing his arms. “Morgana came to speak to me about it today, that’s why she was round.”

“Ah,” Merlin nodded, “and why she left so quickly.” He mumbled, Arthur shooting him a half-friendly glare.

“She’s not sure what to make of it, said she could help me.”

“There you go then,” Merlin smiled hesitantly, “sounds like a good idea.”

Arthur’s following expression suggested otherwise, “I can’t do that.” He gritted out, “my father’s testing me. I need to show him I’m capable,”

Merlin couldn’t help the strange noise of confusion leaving his mouth, as he looked at Arthur through narrow eyes, “wh-what? If you want to leave, does it matter?”

“I can’t have my father thinking I’m not good enough for the job, still,”

“Asking for help isn’t a weakness.”

Arthur scoffed, “you don’t know my father.”

“I know _you_ ,”

His date clenched his jaw, sniffing, “I don’t need anyone, it’s my responsibility.”

“Arthur-”

“It’s a lot more complicated than you understand, Merlin. Perhaps you’d be best to leave it,” speaking sternly, Arthur cut him off.

Merlin sputtered a moment, but in the end followed Arthur’s wishes. Turning away from him slowly, he stared out of the window, wondering how on earth this had gone so south so quickly. Maybe it would have gone better if he had just told him more about himself, he wondered.

“I’d best go,” Arthur muttered quietly after minutes of silence passed, leaving quicker than he had before. “Goodnight.”

Merlin watched him go, hitting the back of his head against the headrest as soon as the flat door shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys, I'm back! Thanks for all the comments and everything, hope you enjoy this chapter! :)
> 
> Hope everyone's doing okay! Are you all in lockdown/quarantine/isolation? What have you been up to? 
> 
> Stay safe!


	14. A Real Date?

Arthur drummed his fingers on the table, taking a sip of his coffee as his eyes fixed on the view out of the window. Merlin was running late, and it had crossed Arthur’s mind too many times than he cared to count that he might just not be coming. He hadn’t had the job refused, though, so if the escort didn’t show up then he had just bottled it last minute, apparently.

Rubbing his eyes, he wondered why he had not done the same. It had been close, but it would only be a waste of his money. Rolling his eyes at his own thoughts, he daren’t concede that there was more to it, but then, why would he be here in the first place? He could blame it on Morgana, or even Gwen, who had both quizzed him about his evening and then turned on him quickly when Arthur revealed that he may have, _slightly_ , ended things quite badly with Merlin.

Still, he knew, and they knew, that he was here of his own volition more than anything. He made the call to Freya, he was the one who booked Merlin for ‘as soon as he’s got free’. Honestly, in the time he now had to think, he realised how desperate he must have sounded. Hopefully the secretary didn’t get the wrong idea. _But what was the_ right _idea,_ he wondered?

Eyes focusing, he finally spotted Merlin, looking as rushed as he had that first morning they had met. It was a good thing this wasn’t a real job, because otherwise Arthur would have tried to get his money back. It was somewhat warming, though, seeing the man’s hair sticking out in all the wrong places, a glimpse of the real Merlin, and not the escort Colin.

Clearing his throat in an attempt to remove any _warm feelings_ as Merlin pushed the door to the café open, he nodded to the escort, who tilted his head towards the counter before going to grab a drink. Arthur’s head sank, though he didn’t remember sitting up straight, and his hands wrapped around his actually quite hot mug.

Now Merlin was here, he realised he had no idea what he was going to say. Sorry was probably in there somewhere, but he paid for a couple of hours with the escort, how can you drag out an apology for that long? Frowning, he immediately questioned why he had even booked Merlin for that long. He was beginning to wish he had booked him later, at least then they could be in a bar and he could have a drink or two in him. Glaring at his coffee, which only served to make his thoughts race around his head, he tapped his thumb against the side of the mug impatiently.

“Arthur,” Merlin smiled hesitantly, an awkward, unsure smile, as he pulled the chair harshly from opposite his date.

Arthur, so stuck in his thoughts, actually jumped. He caught Merlin grinning, so immediately turned his glare on him, “Merlin.”

They sat in silence for an uncomfortable minute or so, Arthur opening his mouth occasionally thinking he knew what to say, then realising he had no idea what he wanted to say.

“You’ve only got me for a couple of hours,” Merlin commented dryly, making it even more difficult for Arthur to consider apologising to him. “What’s this event, then?” The escort glanced around the café, confused.

“Don’t you ever get clients inviting you for coffee, or anything?”

Merlin scoffed, “I wish I just got invited for coffee!” Shaking his head, he sighed, “all the time it’s events, I’d love to just sit with someone and have coffee.”

“Well,” Arthur frowned, not expecting the outburst, “here you are then.”

Merlin eyed him sceptically, leaning closer, “what’s the catch, though?”

“No catch, just, drink your coffee,”

Although still watching him, Merlin tentatively took a sip of his coffee, waiting again as they fell into another silence.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect,” the escort spoke again, refusing to allow Arthur any time to consider what to say, “Freya just told me you wanted to see me soon, and that it was casual. She sounded just as confused,”

Arthur groaned internally, knowing for certain now he had definitely sounded desperate in his call to the secretary. “It wasn’t quite like that,” he lied, “I just asked when you were next free, rather than go through the annoying process of listing off dates.” Even he was surprised to have come up with that answer, but it would do for now.

Merlin still seemed suspicious, but didn’t say anything against it, “alright,” he shrugged. “What did you need to see me about, then?”

“Well,” hesitating, Arthur put his cup down slowly, “things ended a bit… off, the other night,”

“Yeah,” Merlin crossed his arms.

“I just thought it’d be good to sort of clear things up, you know, in case I booked you again, or something,”

Merlin’s foot tapped on the floor over and over, his eyes opening a little wider as he waited expectantly for his date to continue. Arthur was waiting too, since words were apparently evading him.

“It was all sprung on me before the party, so I hadn’t processed it, really. Then, I’d had a bit to drink, too, so…” he trailed off, eyes rolling up to glimpse the expression on the escort’s face, which slowly changed from expectancy to disbelief.

“Are you apologising?”

“I thought that was clear,” Arthur shrugged, unsure if he even was.

“Arthur, you just spouted a whole load of nonsense, and not one word of it was ‘sorry’.”

Arthur hated him. He could see the glint in Merlin’s eye; the escort knew exactly what he meant, but was going to make him _say it_ , purely for his own satisfaction. “Of course, you did antagonise me,”

“What?” Merlin cut him off, pushing himself forwards as he whispered angrily, “I was just asking you about your work, I was only trying to help.”

Merlin’s jaw set as he stared off the other man, face scrunched as he refused to back down. Well, this had backfired rather quickly. “No, I know.” Arthur exhaled, raising his hands in surrender, “I know.”

The escort huffed, but after a moment accepted the submission, moving out of Arthur’s space.

“Alright, I’m sorry.” Arthur’s eyes settled on the escort’s face, trying to show his sincerity.

Merlin, for his part, picked up on it, and the tension in his body seemed to seep away as he nodded, “thank you.” Scratching his head, the escort smiled tentatively, “I guess I’m sorry, too, for getting involved,”

“No need,” Arthur sighed, “I probably needed to hear it.”

Thankfully, the escort said no more on that matter, allowing Arthur to process the fact that those words had just slipped out of his own mouth. More and more recently, he was questioning his position in the company. His father didn’t trust him, which was becoming clearer by the second, and this new _test_ he had proposed was only going to diminish the trust between them both.

“You can talk to me about it, if you want.” Merlin offered, once again reading his thoughts.

“I think we’ve heard enough about my work,” Arthur smiled thoughtfully, “you were going to tell me what you did, anyway.”

“What?” Shaking his head, Merlin frowned playfully, “I don’t remember that. I’m sure I wouldn’t have even offered to mention it.”

“Ah, but I have a perfect memory and I’m _sure_ you did,”

“This is a terrible apology, you know?”

“Apology’s done,” Arthur rolled his shoulders back, “we still have at least an hour and a half, we’ve got to find something to fill it with.”

“I wouldn’t mind going over your work life,” Merlin offered, but the grimace suggested otherwise. At Arthur’s questioning frown, the escort admitted, “to be honest, neither option sounds great.”

“Well, the option of your work sounds good to me, and I am the client.”

“ _That_ is not how this works,”

“Oh, come on, Merlin!” Arthur crossed his arms on the table as he leaned forward, “I already know your name, things about your family, and two of your jobs. What is this last piece of information going to do?”

“I could be a spy,”

“ _You?_ Merlin, please believe me when I say, there is no secret agency on this earth that would hire you.”

“There we go again, you admitted I had a skill the other night!”

“And when _ballroom dancing_ becomes the only skill you need as a spy, I’m sure you’ll be on the list!”

Merlin hummed, tilting his head in consideration. “They actually do use ballroom dancing a lot in spy films, if you think about it,” he teased.

“Merlin!”

The escort smirked, but his smile grew fonder, and Arthur felt that _warm feeling_ again as he noticed it was one of the escort’s genuine smiles. He wondered if his other clients ever saw that smile, or the small, hard, fake Arthur could barely remember. What if they did? Was Arthur falling for a lie? _Was he_ falling?

“Alright, fine,” Merlin spoke, fortunately pulling Arthur from his thoughts, “I’m a PhD student.”

“Oh,” Arthur paused, honestly not sure what he had been expecting. Though, thinking about it, it made sense. The need for money, for one thing. “What are you studying?”

“Medieval History,” Merlin’s smile stayed in place, and Arthur couldn’t help but ask more, in the strange hope it would never leave his face.

“So, you’re an escort, you work in a pharmacy, but you’re studying Medieval History?” Arthur shook his head, “you really do puzzle me, Merlin.”

“You never fathomed me out?”

“No,” Arthur smiled, “how do you manage it?”

“Truth be told, with great difficulty,” he chuckled, running a hand through his hair, causing even more odd strands to stick out ridiculously. Arthur pushed down the sudden urge to fix them into place, instead focusing on the conversation at hand, “but I need money to do research, so I have to.”

“Is that why you’re here then, in the city?”

“Mhm,” eyes falling down a moment, the smile fell for a second, “I wanted to help my mother, we don’t come from much. She wanted me to do something better, and I never felt… a belonging in my village.” He looked to Arthur, “I wanted to find somewhere I fit in,”

“Had any luck?” Arthur asked, half joking, half serious. He hoped Merlin couldn’t read his mind right now, because for some reason, he felt a sort of anxiousness waiting for the answer.

“I’m not sure yet,” Merlin cocked an eyebrow, grinning.

“How long have you been working on your PhD?”

“Only about a year now, but it’s feeling like longer.”

“I can’t imagine working on that sort of thing for so long,”

“I couldn’t imagine doing your job for as long as you have.”

“Ah, back to me now, is it?” Arthur pouted.

“Well, you’ve had a fair bit from me! If we’re following the same questioning rules as before, then you owe me quite a few answers.”

“Here I thought we were just chatting; I didn’t realise there were still rules in place.”

Merlin raised his eyebrows, standing his ground, until Arthur bowed to his questioning.

* * *

Arthur was acutely aware that his time with Merlin was running out. When they had first started, he believed the time was going to drag awkwardly, but now it was flying by, and he couldn’t help but try and use every second. He wondered if his companion was aware of the time, and by the way he was delving deep into some story, it seemed he wasn’t. Maybe, if he was, Arthur could mention that he had arrived a little late. Was that too desperate? He was only getting his money’s worth, it was fair.

Apparently, the escort was aware of the time though, as he brought his story to a close and checked his watch. Arthur was still debating whether to mention his late arrival when Merlin looked back up, “I arrived late, so I guess we probably still have another fifteen minutes or so.”

“Why were you late, anyway?” Arthur asked, after a moment of wondering seriously if Merlin had some sort of mind reading powers. It wouldn’t surprise him at this point, the escort had a lot going on in his life.

“Do you not remember how I’m a student, a sort-of-pharmacist, and an escort? I live a busy life,”

“You’re never usually late,”

“My appointments are never usually in the morning,”

“Fair point.”

“Why did you book me so early? I’m sure there would have been another awkward family event you could have apologised to me at?”

“Like I said, I didn’t want things to actually be awkward _if_ I did book you again.”

Merlin furrowed his brow, stroking his chin, “Freya told me you seemed odd on the phone,”

“Oh?”

“And you booked me for two hours just to say sorry? She’s going to have a field day,” he grinned.

“Really? Why?”

As Merlin looked at Arthur, something appeared to dawn on him, and he shrunk back hesitantly. “Oh, nothing, really,” he averted his gaze.

Arthur wasn’t buying it, and he waited patiently for his escort to cave.

“Nothing to worry about, really.” Merlin refused to fall under his inquisitive gaze, and Arthur huffed. “Anyway, you didn’t need to book me for this, really. I’ll speak to Freya about refunding you,”

Arthur’s face scrunched in confusion, “why? What are you talking about?”

“Well, I mean, we had the time, but really it was just an apology, right? Not an event or anything. You don’t have to pay for that,”

“I don’t mind, the apology was only about ten minutes of it.”

Merlin paused, struggling with his words, but Arthur didn’t say anything, instead waiting. “It was just coffee, it’s silly paying for that.”

Arthur wondered what to say, trying to figure out what emotions he was seeing play out on the escort’s face. He seemed certain he did not want the money, but why? They had spent the whole time together, and it puzzled Arthur that Merlin claimed it was hardly a real booking. Unless…

“I did try and call you,” he mentioned instead, “before Freya, I thought I could call you. It just went to voicemail,”

The escort frowned, but he nodded as he realised what had happened, “I only call you from my business phone,”

“Hm?”

“I don’t usually call clients from my phone, or those _extra clingy_ clients might call me. I only ever answer calls from Freya on that phone or make calls myself.”

“Oh, that makes a lot of sense, actually,” Arthur nodded, grinning, “I’m beginning to think there is a brain in there, somewhere.”

Merlin smiled, rolling his eyes as he shrugged off the friendly insult. Again, though, he paused and hesitated, and Arthur could see in him some sort of conflict.

“What are you doing, after this?” He decided to ask, sensing Merlin wasn’t going to speak up any time soon.

His date shrugged, “I’m sure there’s cleaning to be done. There’s _always_ cleaning to be done. How about you?”

“I haven’t got any plans,” he paused. He, too, was hesitating now. Merlin’s condition had caught him, but he urged himself on, hoping he had begun reading the situation right, “so, you’ve got no work on or anything?”

“Not really, I’m in a sort of limbo at the moment with my PhD, I can’t really get back to it until I hear back from my supervisor.”

“If we’re not being timed then, since this isn’t a booking, right?” Merlin nodded and Arthur continued, “do you want to stick around? We could go to a movie, or something? I wouldn’t need to book you for that, would I?” Arthur had been more articulate, but he was just glad he had said _something,_ something he had wanted to say, rather than ducking out like a coward.

Merlin’s eyes widened, and Arthur worried instantly he had got it wrong, but _the smile_ returned slowly, across the escort’s face. The _warm feeling_ , that bugging feeling that had amplified when he held his hand, when he danced gracefully with this clumsy idiot, spread through easily and undeterred now, and when he saw that smile it was hard to make any attempt to temper it.

* * *

“Merlin,” Arthur had been allowed to walk the escort to his street, and smiled as they stood on the path, “sorry again.”

“It’s fine,” he shrugged, beaming.

“Today was actually better than I thought it would be,”

“Me too,”

“The film was quite a bad choice, though, so you owe me for that.”

“It was a good film!”

Arthur moved his hands weighing the options, shaking his head in disbelief.

“You are just uncultured,”

“Shut up,” he grinned, “I enjoy _good_ films.”

“There’s just no pleasing some people,” he huffed, but shared a laugh with Arthur after a second. “Thanks, for today.”

Arthur nodded, smiling softly.

“And, er, if you want, I could, er,” Merlin shuffled his feet, looking down at them as he hesitated as he had that morning. Arthur smiled exasperatedly, but waited. “I could give you my number, my proper one. If you wanted to do something again, or chat, just so you don’t have to go through Freya?”

Arthur watched the nervousness on Merlin’s face, and wondered if he had looked the same when he asked the man to spend the day with him, so was quick to try and put him out of his misery. “That sounds good,” he grinned, and Merlin mirrored him easily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! Sorry for the delay, I've just been focused a lot on work at the moment, but hopefully I'll be able to update again soon, though there's not *too* long to go now... 
> 
> Thanks for the lovely comments and support, hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	15. You're Still An Idiot

“So, you’ve been texting?” Freya asked giddily, settling down on the sofa while Lance grabbed the food from the kitchen.

Merlin blushed, but couldn’t resist the bubbling smile as he crossed his legs, nodding. “We’ve been out a couple more times,” he added, but his smile fell a little, “but I have a lot going on, sometimes it’s quite difficult arranging things.”

“He likes you!” His friend beamed, reaching out to tug at his arm, and he knew the words coming next before she said them, “told you so.”

Rolling his eyes, he sighed contentedly, allowing her this one victory.

“I’m sure he’s got stuff on, too,” she reassured him kindly, “and if he likes you, he won’t mind.”

Merlin hoped that was true, but the anxiety still played on his mind.

“What time’s your _friend_ getting here, then?” Lance asked, arriving with an armful of snacks, yet he managed to carry them all with an ease Merlin envied.

Checking his watch, the escort shrugged, eyes hovering over to the door. He should be there at any moment, and Merlin’s foot began tapping unconsciously. “Soon, I guess.” He replied, turning back to see his friends’ eyes on him teasingly. “What?”

“Stop _worrying_ ,” Freya laughed, patting his leg to stop the incessant tapping. Merlin looked down at it offended, but immediately carried on when his eyes looked at Freya.

“I’m not worried,”

“ _Merlin_ ,” she raised her eyebrows knowingly, “this is the guy you’ve brought to meet us in ages.”

Opening his mouth to object, he turned to Lance for support, but the man only shrugged in agreement with the secretary. “It’s not a bad thing,” he offered instead, but Merlin was looking for something else, and he crossed his arms.

“You like him a lot, though?” Freya asked, changing the subject quickly.

Merlin felt that stupid grin on his face before he could even stop it, but before he could say anything, there was a knock on the door.

He realised, after jumping up from the sofa in a sort of rush, he might not be helping his case against Freya and Lance, so tried to help himself by walking slowly to the door. Still, he felt quite nervous, because it was right that this was the first person he had brought to meet his friends in a while.

What would Arthur think of them? Would he think it strange that there were only a couple of them, when he had so many? Merlin had invited Will, but the other man had been busy, and now it was quite a cosy afternoon in, really. Maybe it would be too intimate like this? Looking back at his two friends, watching him with eager eyes from the sitting room, his worried increased. He was used to their enthusiasm, would Arthur understand it? Obviously, he wasn’t ashamed of his friends, but they could be slightly… _intimidating_ to newcomers. Offering them a wobbly smile as he turned back to the door, he took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for whatever the afternoon would become.

Sitting on the edge of his seat, eyes shifting this way and that, aware Freya knew that he was keeping an eye on her mainly, Merlin had to admit it was going better than he expected it would. It had just been so long since he had introduced them to someone new, and he knew how Freya loved to tease him. It turned out, though, it was Arthur who started causing all the problems, all the teasing.

“He’s seen so many embarrassing family moments of mine already,” he was talking to Freya, raising his eyebrows. “You’ve got to give me something.”

Merlin shot her _a look_ , but the mischievous grin growing on her face told him he had no friends here. Well, he had Lance, who would always stand by him and was sworn to secrecy, but he had told Freya a lot of things, too.

“I’ve seen him outside of his work, too, so I know how clumsy he is. There’s bound to be an absolute gold mine of his mistakes!”

“I can think of one,” the escort muttered, “inviting you here?”

Arthur turned, offering him a damn attractive, but awful, toothy grin. “Oh, _Mer_ lin, I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.”

“As if you need more ammunition against me,”

His date, because that was definitely what this was, although neither had _explicitly_ said so, had the grace to look offended. “I would _never,_ ”

Merlin simply rolled his eyes, turning to Lance as Arthur turned back to Freya. Whatever it was she was going to tell him, he did not want to listen. Lance, for his part, really just wanted to watch the film.

* * *

It seemed that it was only whenever he was out of the room, out of earshot, that Arthur would chat to his friends earnestly, and as soon as he came back, they all reverted to teasing him. Still, once he figured that out, it was easy for him to come up with an excuse to leave the room, but hover somewhere he could hear them. Was it bad to be eavesdropping? He would have to think about that grey area later, because at the moment, he was straining to hear what his friends were revealing to Arthur. And what Arthur was interested to know about him.

“You’re an escort, too?” He was chatting to Lance now, who had given up on the film altogether, but was amiable with Merlin’s guest. “Merlin said you guys didn’t have events like this, he must have been lying.”

Merlin rolled his eyes, sighing quietly from his hovering post. Lance, inevitably, had no idea what they were talking about, and his friend could hear his confusion from where he stood.

“Sorry,” Arthur added with a soft laugh. “So, did you both meet through that, then?”

“We knew each other before, we had been students together.”

“Oh, right,” he sounded both understanding and confused at the same time, making Merlin smile. “And now you’re both… escorts?”

“I decided to wait to do any more studying, get the money beforehand. Merlin, he prefers to do everything at once.”

It sounded like Arthur let out a breath, “I’ve noticed. He’s quite busy, isn’t he?” Merlin bit his lip, anxiety filling him once more. It wasn’t like he always said no to Arthur, but there were times he was completely swamped. He wanted nothing more than to accept, enjoying this, whatever _this_ was, with Arthur, but he could not drop everything. Because what if things went wrong? What if he dropped everything, took the risk, and then this all went south? It was too soon, really.

“Aren’t you?” Freya chimed in after a moment, Merlin realising his friends were just as worried about saying the wrong thing as he would be. “He told us you’re working for your father?”

“It’s really not an interesting topic,” Arthur groaned, and the escort let out a sigh of relief at the change in topic. After a few more minutes, he felt it was safe enough now to come out, in case they got suspicious of him leaving for too long. The looks he received from everyone in the room suggested they were all suspicious of him, anyway, but nobody said anything as he dropped himself on the sofa next to his date.

* * *

Arthur lingered at the door, Merlin closing it when he realised his insufferable friends were listening into their goodbye. They would probably still find a way, he knew.

“Your friends are far less irritating than mine,”

“I thought it was only Gwaine you disliked?”

His date shrugged, flicking up the corner of his mouth in fondness, “eh, they each have their moments.”

Merlin’s eyes widened, “as do mine,” he huffed.

They shared a soft laugh, but silence descended as neither knew what more to say.

“I’m quite surprised you invited me,” Arthur broke it, sticking his hands in his pockets. “I assume the secrecy policy is out of the window, then?”

“If you want to think that,” the escort grinned, the twinkle in his eye mischievously suggestive.

“I don’t think your friends got the memo, if it hasn’t.” Arthur offered his own wink, and although Merlin had pretty much heard most of what had been said, he still worried if there had been more.

“They did,” he rolled his shoulders, “they just tore it into a million pieces.”

“Well, thank them for me, then.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I will.”

Arthur smirked, “Merlin isn’t so bad, after all.”

“Arthur’s still a dollop head.”

It was the other man’s turn to roll his eyes, then, as he threw his head back in mock laughter.

“And Merlin is still a clumsy idiot.”

Again, silence fell after the warm, innocent name calling. As many of their “dates” were ending, neither was fully aware how they should end them. Each of them lingered, waiting for something, but neither confident enough to make a move.

“You don’t open up to many people, really, do you?” Arthur asked tentatively, with a kindness Merlin was growing more familiar with by the day.

Shaking his head softly, he offered a bashful smile, “many don’t even want to know Colin.”

“It’s their loss, I suppose.”

“Was that a compliment?” Merlin scoffed, and immediately wanted to hit himself. Could he not have just accepted it? The brief tenderness of the moment?

“’Course not,” Arthur replied quickly, regret seemingly shadowing his smile, and the moment fled. Merlin could kick himself, but he was sure Freya would do it for him.

“Of course not,” he whispered, gritting his teeth with his own frustration.

“Well, I guess I had better go,” Arthur whistled through his teeth, being the only one of them to make any move. The wrong move, Merlin thought, but at least one of them was brave enough to do _something_.

“Yes, yeah,” he nodded, clapping his hands in an awkward gesture. “Better get back, yeah.”

“I’m sure they’ll want to give you their own thoughts,” Arthur waved his hand at the door, and Merlin briefly looked back.

“You won them over when you brought the alcohol,” Merlin smiled.

“I’m sure my charm helped, too.”

Merlin squinted, “charm?”

Arthur shot him a withering glare, but they shared a smile.

“Anyway, I’ll get going. This was fun, let me know when you’re not buried in work.”

“Will do,” the escort blushed lamely.

* * *

“You didn’t even have a peck on the cheek, or anything?” Freya smacked his shoulder in disbelief, in frustration. Honestly, he didn’t know why, because he was just as annoyed with his incapability.

Shaking his head in resignation, regret, he waited expectantly for the pair to give them their thoughts, as Arthur had fairly predicted.

“He seems quite keen, Merlin.” Lance spoke up this time, before Freya could berate their friend even more. “He was very interested to get to know you, properly.”

“Yeah, he kept asking us all sorts about your family, your work, a lot of things.” The secretary nodded along, smiling hopefully.

“He kept wanting to know more about me, during our first meetings.”

“See,” Freya smiled, “even then, he liked you! I told you.”

“Or he’s just a very curious, nosey person.”

“Only you would think that.” She rolled her eyes fondly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I'm so sorry this was so long in coming! I have to be honest, this chapter is not my favourite. It's quite short, because as much as I've wrestled with it, I just can't seem to get it to my liking at all. I've been waiting to update, hoping it'll get better, but this is as good as I can get it in my eyes. I mean, hopefully you guys like it! Or it at least offers something until the next instalment, which I really hope will get to you all quicker because I don't like leaving these things for so long. 
> 
> Thanks so much for the continuing support, I appreciate it a lot!


	16. Ruin My Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, hope you're still enjoying this! 
> 
> Thanks for the continuing support, I always appreciate it.

Arthur smiled down at his phone unconsciously, quickly snapping his fingers against the screen to send a witty reply. And by witty, he was thinking along the lines of ‘petty insult’. Still, he would not allow Merlin the last word, with his made-up names. It was strange that their relationship, whatever that was exactly, was founded on this, but it didn’t feel totally awful. He found himself smiling more, and there was a change in him that he knew had something to do with this idiot.

“Princess?” Flicking his eyes up, his smile dropped, and he stared at Gwaine with confusion. The other man, much to his annoyance, let his grin widen, “something interesting?”

Huffing, he pocketed the phone with some regret, shaking his head, “I’m in.” Checking his cards, he nodded, making sure.

“How’s Merlin?” Elyan asked, because apparently, this was the new topic every time they played cards, now.

“He’s fine,” a flick of his lips, and all eyes were away from the table, watching him.

“Didn’t you meet his friends the other day?” Leon asked, seeming sincere, but Arthur had known him long enough to sense that he was in with the guys on this.

They were all going to quiz him, and he wondered, when would they stop? Thinking about it properly, he realised they had never shown this interest in Richard. Sighing, he knew, that was because Richard never cared about Arthur’s side of life. Merlin appeared to get on well with all his friends, which had only endeared Arthur more to the escort. Another flick of the corner of his lip, and he realised he might have to try and sort out his subconscious, or his friends might never ease up the teasing.

“I did,” he nodded, placing his cards face down, leaning back, ready for the long inquisition. They might get back to their game, eventually, but tonight, he found he actually was not too bothered at the interval. Looking around the table, he huffed, feigning an effort, but gave in quickly, “they’re not like you lot. They’re quite pleasant and not at all _annoying_ ,” so, he was giving in, it didn’t mean he had to do so easily. He grinned evilly, watching as they each rolled their eyes, leaning forward, waiting for something real.

“Are you getting serious, then?” Percival asked in the silence, making Arthur sputter.

“What?” It had started out so innocent, he had not expected to be asked that question until a while later, at least.

None of his friends seemed to mind, though, as they raised their eyebrows at him, their minds all on the same issue.

“I just met his friends,” he shrugged, a red rising around his neck, and he tried to bury it away in his shirt. His eyes dropped to his cards and he swallowed, “not exactly serious.”

“Are you joking?”

“You text him all the time!” Gwaine shouted.

“I’m not texting him right now, am I?” He glared at the man, a part of him wishing he was texting him instead, although he probably would not be on his side.

Merlin would probably ask, were they getting serious? Because Arthur was wondering it, too. Every time they met, there was this air around them that he couldn’t explain, but he knew the escort must feel it too, because they always ended things the same: an awkward, shifty, goodbye, a lingering moment, but inevitably one of them left. He kept denying the feeling of regret he felt, when he turned back to catch a glimpse of the other man, to maybe return, but settled on a wave as he continued his way home. Would Merlin even want to stick with him, when he couldn’t even make a simple decision as this. Couldn’t even go in for a hug, let alone a kiss, because once he crossed that line, there was no coming back. If they crossed, and it failed, there was only misery waiting for him on the other side.

“He’s busy a lot,” he spoke again, raking a hand through his hair. “He does quite a few jobs, so I don’t see him much.” Shrugging casually, he tried to act uncaring, but he knew it was a thought continually niggling at the back of his mind; whenever he would text Merlin, but would be told that he was about to go on a date. Sometimes it wasn’t even that he was busy, it was that he referred to it as a date. He hated it, but the feeling of some form of jealousy bubbled in him, and he felt guilty, but could not squash the thought.

“You like him, though?” Leon asked, thoughtfully. His friends all knew him well, but Leon could always read him so easily. So easily that he always lost poker to him, which was only one of the irritations of their friendship.

“I suppose he’s not as much an oaf as I might have said before,” he blinked, relief and panic leaving him at the same time as he only admitted a little of how he felt. In that moment, it was easy to think how less self-conscious he felt when discussing things with Merlin. Their connection had built so quickly, that it all felt strange, but quite nice, all at once.

Elyan clapped, “you finally admit it!”

Gwaine grinned, “I mean, we all already saw it. Do you not remember the performance you put on at the party?” Winking, he caused Arthur to roll his eyes, but a fond smile crept up at the memory. The man had many faults, but he knew how to dance.

“Ugh, don’t remind me of that,” Leon looked to Gwaine in disgust.

“Don’t break my heart, Sir Leon,” Gwaine grabbed at his heart, painting a mocking sorrowful expression on his face as the others shared a laugh.

“You took his innocence,” Percival grinned.

“And gave him a night he’ll never forget!”

“For all the _wrong_ reasons,” Leon buried his head in his hands, remembering the horrors of the evening.

Arthur allowed them to change the subject, but his mind stayed on his experience of the evening. The reluctance both he and Merlin had shown when Gwaine offered to dance with them, not because it was Gwaine – although, that was a perfectly acceptable reason – but because they had not finished with each other. Eyes falling, he hoped Merlin still remembered the night fondly.

* * *

Arthur hated his work enough already, but coming in with a hangover was torture. It meant he had to try even harder to care for anything he was doing. Even worse now, he realised, when he saw the date. Already late, because fate had something against him, or at least alcohol did, he rushed in, aware he looked awful. Thankfully, Morgana was there to greet him, to make sure he knew just how terrible he looked, in case he did not already know.

Pushing past her, he threw himself into his seat, praying she would leave and tell nobody else to bother him. He should be so lucky, he sighed, when she shut the door, still standing in his office. In fact, shutting it would have been kind, but seeing him in such a state, his kind sister decided it would only do to slam it, a gleeful twinkle in her crinkled eyes as she watched him flinch. He would have rolled his eyes, but the headache was already blinding. It would have no effect on the wicked witch his sister was, anyway, since she was well aware of how irritating he found her; she did not care.

“You’re aware Uther won’t be happy about this,” she tutted, sitting gracefully opposite, her image a perfect contrast to his own.

“He’s only coming to see me for a few minutes,” he flicked an eyebrow, “I’m surprised he’ll even spare me that.”

“Well, he’s trusting you with the company for a week. It’s almost a special enough occasion to warrant a visit,” she teased, but they both knew there was a hint of truth within.

“I’m just glad he’s giving me a week, rather than the month he initially wanted.”

“If you wanted his respect, doesn’t that show you don’t have it?”

He shrugged, holding a cool water bottle to his forehead now, “I want him to respect me for other things. Less responsibility here doesn’t bother me.”

Closing his eyes, he didn’t wait to see her expression, but could guess she was watching him closely, making her own judgements, debating whether to give them to him now or later.

“Well, I won’t keep you. It seems you’ll need your energy to face the tyrant,” so, later it was then. Arthur was grateful for the small mercy.

* * *

Unfortunately, as it seemed he was under some horrible curse, or his office lock just did not work, the mercy was short lived. There was a rap against his door, but the man let himself in, as he often had before. Arthur only peeked at first, hearing the door open, but when he realised who had entered, he sat up, dropping the water bottle from his hand as he tried to appear less than the absolute mess he was.

“Fun night with the lads, then?” Richard sneered, taking in Arthur’s wretched appearance.

Glaring, Arthur refused to rise to the bait that his ex often dangled his way, hoping to see him squirm.

Richard shrugged, unperturbed, knowing he would get into Arthur’s skin anyway because he could. Because Arthur had been open with him, had trusted him, and the man did not mind using such openness as a weapon when he needed to. Even when he didn’t.

Still, Arthur sat up straighter, feeling something in him rising to the challenge for once. He had an idea whose influence it might have been, and felt himself not minding at all. Smiling a fake, pleasant, toothy grin, he tried to appear less hungover than his banging head wanted him to know.

“What is it, Richard? Just because I’m taking over my father’s role for the week, doesn’t mean you should start sniffing around me. I can’t give promotions just yet,”

Tilting his head back with a malicious chuckle, Richard pocketed his hands, “I already had my fun with you a long time ago.”

Arthur held in the shiver, the urge to shrink out of the room, at the mention of his _fun._ What they had was not _fun_ , but a miserable, false relationship.

“Anyway, I’m already working my way to the top, your father seems to like me.”

“Yes, well, he’s got to find some way to get your head out of his arse.”

Richard smirked, enjoying the play. Arthur’s glare was warning, but his ex had never known when to leave off.

“You missed a good party, Uther had a lot of nice things to say about me. Not so many pleasant things about you, mind.”

“Unlike some I don’t crave his approval,” he spoke sternly, but they both knew the lie before it even left his mouth.

“Of course,” that damn smile only grew, “I heard you got sick. What was it?”

“Oh, it’s a dreadful disease. I come out in hives when I’m surrounded by sycophants,”

“That never used to be a problem for you before. We used to be very _close_ ,” Richard winked, sickeningly, reminding Arthur of all the times he had basically been this man’s plaything.

His headache was growing, nausea rising just being in the same room with Richard, and listening to him remind him of their relationship founded on nothing but work and ambition. He refused to back down, though, now his confidence began to rise, giving as good as he got.

“But you’re having fun with someone else now, right? What was his name…” Tapping his chin with his finger, mockingly thoughtful, Richard’s brow furrowed.

“Colin,” Arthur rolled his eyes, ignoring the burning pain in his skull, “his name’s Colin.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s right!” Richard attempted a kind smile, “was he the reason you missed my party?”

“Would it make you feel better, Richard, if he was? If I made plans with him, without even sparing a thought for your evening?”

The man stared at him, silently. Arthur watched, waiting carefully, ready to attack once more if need be. Then, however, Richard shook his head, scratching at the back of his neck as he looked down at the floor.

“Alright, fair enough.” He nodded with a sort of finality, before turning to leave, making his way to the door.

Arthur watched him with wide eyes, confused at such an early victory. He had expected this to go on a while longer, at least until his father turned up so that Richard might snivel up to him for the morning.

“Oh,” Richard turned, making Arthur blink, “I should mention, I actually ran into Colin yesterday, while you were partying with your little friends. Your precious boyfriend was out with another man, and they looked quite cosy, too.”

Arthur’s lips turned, “you really are so petty, to steep so low and lie like that?” Letting out a nervous scoff, he shrugged, “don’t you have an office to get to?”

His ex shrugged, carelessly, but the wicked smile returned as he opened the door, “believe me or don’t, you can make your own mistakes. Was he with you, then, at the party?”

Arthur hesitated, but realising Richard noticed, he nodded fervently.

Richard ducked his head, understanding the pause, and he winked, “seems like it wasn’t just me who’s having you on, Darling.” And with that, he left, the smug smile printed on his face possibly for the day.

Arthur slumped back in his seat, too tired to think, but that was all he could do. It frustrated him that Richard thought he could still just come into his office like that, uninvited, to try and turn his world upside down.

He had spoken to Merlin yesterday, and the escort told him he had a date. It was most likely Richard just saw him on that. What did he mean by _cosy_ , though? Merlin didn’t do cosy, not for his job. Maybe his date was getting handsy and a little bit too close, and Richard had spun it?

Pulling his phone from his pocket, a frown brewing on his face, he checked his messages. There was nothing new from Merlin, but that didn’t really mean anything, did it? He had probably just had a late night, that was the sort of thing he had to do, and he still had other work to be doing as well. It wasn’t always Arthur texting him, right? No, they had definitely spoken as equals, every time they met they were equal. He was sure of it. Really.

Sighing, he put a hand over his eyes and dragged it into his hair as he leaned his elbow against the table, holding up his aching head. The drumming he heard inside was only getting louder as he tried to think his way through this, then wondering why he was. Because really, it was Richard’s word. It was only Richard’s word. Right? There might have been moments when Arthur was curious about Merlin’s dates, when he missed texting him while he was off doing one of his many jobs, but it was just a feeling. Nothing more. It was not as if they were serious, anyway, right? Groaning, he checked his watch, realising his father would be with him at any minute. How was it so early in the morning, but the day was already getting the better of him?

Staring at his phone again, as if willing it to vibrate, to show a message from Merlin just to stop his thoughts running around, he waited. And waited. Throwing his head back, he grunted, holding the hand tightly, as he clicked on the messages once more.

_Fancy meeting for lunch?_

His finger hovered over the send button, hesitating, wondering if it was a good idea. He looked terrible, he felt even worse, and before he left for lunch, he would be spending the morning with his father.

Uther walked in at that moment, without a knock, causing Arthur to jump in his hungover state, and he lost control, clicking the button. Decision made, then, by fate. Looking up at his father, plastering on a smile that tried to be reassuring and competent, whilst Uther only stared at him with less contempt than he usually would, he ignored everything the man said, his thoughts so far away.

He hated Richard for believing he could barge into his office, into his life, to try and ruin whatever Arthur tried to do. What he hated more, though, was that his ex was right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'll be glad to see that I now know when this will end, so get ready, folks! 
> 
> As you can see, I've been posting a few oneshots, so I'm very much going to stay in this fandom writing for a while (especially whilst stuck inside). If you read any of them, hit me up! I've also got an idea for the next multi-chapter I would like to do, so I'm very much on it all. 
> 
> I was also hoping to do a quarantine fic (I've already written one about Arthur rising again, because a girl can hope, right?), which would be filled with oneshot prompts. I want to get on that as soon as possible, so I was wondering if you lovely people could help me out and send me some ideas? Any setting, any ship, anything - I want to have a go! You can comment it here, or my Tumblr link is in my bio for you to get in touch there :) 
> 
> Thanks again guys, I really love writing for such a great fandom. Hopefully the next chapter will come soon! 
> 
> Stay safe :)


	17. I Won't Wait Forever

_We never usually arrange meetings so last minute. What do you think he wants?_

Merlin sent the text to Freya quickly, while checking his wardrobe for a nice, casual outfit. Arthur had text him rather early, but he had granted himself a lie in and barely had time to arrange their meetup before he had to start getting ready for it.

_I can think of one reason: maybe he finally wants to admit that he’s serious? ;)_

The escort rolled his eyes, but briefly considered the prospect, deciding that the clothes he had picked out might just not be nice _enough_ if Arthur was going to confess to something. It might be unlikely, but Merlin was going to make sure he did not look like a wreck.

_He did sound quite urgent, but would it be for that? And what if it is? What do I do?_

He had already sent the text when he realised how desperately hopeless he sounded. Still, this was quite new territory for him, he was only really used to fake dates. Give him a fake declaration of love… or whatever it was going to be any day, but a real one? He had no clue.

_Stop overthinking this! He likes you, you like him. What is there to think about? He tells you he wants to get serious,_ _you say great! No more messing about, because I swear to God, Merlin, if I hear you fumbled and messed it all up or you just don’t react, I will only give you bad clients. The worst. You think some of yours are bad? Think again._

Merlin stared at the message, eyes widening at the threat because, while he wanted to believe Freya would not do that to him, he definitely would not put it past her. She was nice when she wanted to be, when she didn’t… well, you just made sure you were on her good side.

_If I mess it up, you have my permission to control my life from now on._

Grinning, he really hoped it would not come to that, but he never knew. Maybe it would be best if Freya made his decisions for him in this regard, because he really did screw up sometimes.

Grabbing a suitable outfit, that hopefully said he would be happy to be serious but could also be casual if he got the wrong message, he quickly dressed, trying to look as presentable as someone who had only woken up properly fifteen minutes ago.

_Finally! Is it bad that a part of me is hoping that happens so I can make your decisions…? Well, anyway, good luck!_

Merlin shook his head in exasperation at the text, but found hope bubbling inside him. Freya had been right since the start, so maybe she was right about this. They had been on a few ‘unofficial’ sort of dates, but were they just friends? Every time they said bye though, it was not just him lingering, Arthur did it, too. It could just be his mind playing tricks on him in a cruel way, but no, he was _sure_ the other man always seemed to look like he wanted to say more, to do something, but neither had the courage to do it.

Bounding down the stairs, briefly mumbling something to Gaius about going out for lunch, he could not help but smile with some hope, trying to build himself with courage.

* * *

They had decided to meet outside of Arthur’s work and would go from there, so Merlin stood anxiously, tapping his foot against the ground as the wind ruined his attempt at sorting out his hair. It would look presentable, he lied to himself. Leaning against the wall by the entrance of the building, he pocketed his hands, trying to appear less nervous than he felt. Arthur was not even here yet and he could already feel his palms sweating, but he tried to ignore it.

Hearing somebody coming, he looked up quickly with a bright energy, but his heart fell a little when he saw Gwaine. The man still managed to make him smile though, as he came over and smacked a hand on Merlin’s back in greeting.

“Here to see Arthur?”

Merlin nodded, trying to find his voice as he looked for somewhere to put all of his nervous energy, but thankfully Gwaine liked to talk.

“He’s in a bit of a mood this morning,” the man whispered conspiratorially, “Uther’s been badgering him non-stop.”

The escort stared, remembering Arthur telling him that he was due to begin his practice soon for running the company. He swallowed hard, wondering just how much of a mood Arthur was going to be in.

“I’m sure you can cheer him up,” Gwaine beamed, apparently having more faith in Merlin than he did himself. “He told us he met your friends recently, must be serious.” He winked, elbowing him gently.

“Er, yeah,” Merlin smiled, scratching the back of his head as he was slightly caught off guard. So, Arthur had told his friends that? He thought of what Freya told him this morning, his hope only growing as he looked at Gwaine with more confidence. “We’ll see what mood he’s in today, though.” He attempted to shrug it off, trying to appear less enthusiastic than he was, in case he might get his hopes too high.

“Don’t worry, he always brightens up when he talks to you!”

Gwaine was making it increasingly difficult for him to keep his hopes low.

* * *

Arthur finally came from the building, walking sluggishly, staring down at the floor. Merlin immediately wondered what his father had been telling him, but that would likely be known to him soon.

“If I’d have known you’d be stuck with Gwaine I would have tried to get out sooner,” Arthur offered a smile as he came closer, but it was nothing like the smile Merlin had gotten used to. There was something more behind it, and the escort could not help but focus on it for the moment.

“I take it I’m not invited to your lunch?” Arthur stared at his friend with an exhaustion that was daring Gwaine to try something with him today, “suit yourselves. See ya round, Merlin.”

Merlin waved him off, then found himself taking Arthur in properly; he looked quite dreadful.

“You look…” he tried, but found there was no compliment he could even hope to fake. “I’m sorry, no, I can’t lie,” he smiled jokingly, hoping to lighten Arthur’s mood, “you don’t look good.”

Arthur rolled his eyes, but Merlin saw, or at least hoped he saw, the corner of Arthur’s lips lift, “ _thank you_.”

“Long night, or…?”

“A night with Gwaine and the others is always a _long_ night,” he shrugged, and Merlin allowed himself to feel a little better, hearing the man carry on their joking. “Shall we go?”

* * *

“Gwaine said your father’s been with you all morning?” He asked, having waited for Arthur to begin whatever conversation it was he had wanted but realising it was not forthcoming. He decided it might be best not to use Gwaine’s exact phrasing, considering the mood Arthur was already in today; his hope was dwindling slightly with every passing minute, wondering maybe the man had just asked him to come to complain. Not that Merlin hated him complaining, but sometimes he had his own things to do, and he was not sure what more advice he could give.

Arthur hummed, “he’s finally leaving me to it after lunch.” He stretched his legs under the table as he ate, nudging at Merlin’s own with his feet. The escort’s eyes darted down, as if he could see underneath the table from that angle, but his eyes roved up again at his failed attempt. Arthur had not seemed to notice, continuing, “at least this week he won’t be around to complain about everything I do.”

“You shouldn’t jump for him, Arthur.” Merlin sighed, “don’t bow to the quests he sets you.”

Arthur shrugged, but did not say anything else about it, letting the awkward silence fall back on top of them. Merlin would have groaned, wanting to shake the other man, but played around with his food instead for a while. There was a different air around them today, not like their usual meetups. There was no laughter, or joking, really, just a strange silence that would not leave them.

“Did anything else happen this morning?” He asked casually, picking at his food still; Arthur’s mood was catching, and he felt any nervous energy he had being replaced with concern.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know,” he rolled his shoulders, “your text seemed quite urgent, I thought something had happened.”

Arthur stared at him, and he stared right back, daring him to come up with an excuse. There was a brewing tension, and Arthur did not seem to know what to do with it, but Merlin was determined to stand his ground, growing slightly more irritable each second this dragged on.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Arthur put his fork down, closing his eyes as if gathering his own strength to speak, “Richard came to see me this morning.”

Merlin frowned, but then quirked an eyebrow as he waited for Arthur to continue, wondering where he was going with this.

“He said he saw you out last night, with someone in the city.”

Again, a frown fell on his face, and Merlin blinked a few times, rather confused. “Maybe he did?” He thought, “I don’t know, I didn’t see him.”

“He said you were quite close,”

Merlin felt like screaming again, because Arthur was skirting round the topic annoyingly.

“Arthur, what is it you’re asking me?” He breathed out, “I told you I had a date last night.”

“A _date_?”

“W- what? An escort date, a job!” He shook his head, “you already know what I do.”

“Yeah,” Arthur muttered, “Richard said you seemed _cosy_.”

“Maybe we were? I don’t really remember, it was a long night.” Arthur raised his eyebrows, and Merlin quickly shook his head, his eyes widening, “you know I don’t mean that. I’ve _told_ you I don’t do that.”

Merlin’s feeling of hope had quickly evaporated, leaving frustration in its wake as he listened to Arthur imply that he might be with someone else, without even having the decency to simply ask him, and all because of the word of his ex.

“Why are you listening to Richard, anyway? He’s just trying to get under your skin, you know that.” He tried to be calmer, speaking in a soothing but solid tone, showing that he was serious and offended at these accusations.

Arthur rushed a hand through his hair, and although once Merlin had wanted to reach out and offer comfort, right now he felt that he had no right to feel this worked up, when he was not the one being accused of messing around with a _stranger_.

“Arthur, you know how my job works. If I looked “cosy” with him, it didn’t mean anything. I was just doing _my job_ ,” he stressed, anger growing as Arthur stayed silent. “I have to try and get to know my clients, make them have as good an evening as possible, _without sex_ , like I did with you!” He took a breath, heavily, processing his own words.

They had come out in such a rush, that when he noticed Arthur’s expression turn stony, at first he did not realise why. But then it came crashing down on him in an instant as his companion fixed him with a cold look, and he realised what he said.

He raised his hands, shaking them, shaking his head, “I didn’t mean it like that,” he sighed, wondering how this situation had turned on him so quickly. “That’s not what I meant, I just meant this is my job, I thought you were okay with it.” Merlin wrapped his hands, wringing them together as he stared at Arthur, realising the bad mood had spread over them both so easily that this lunch had become a disaster.

“I thought I was,” Arthur finally spoke, “Richard took such pleasure in telling me, though, that he saw you with someone else. I felt _humiliated_ ,”

Merlin took a breath, choosing his next words carefully, “that’s not my fault.”

“What if someone else sees you, next time?”

“So what if they do? I’m not ashamed of what I do, Arthur.” He spoke dangerously, feeling more confident, pulling himself back.

“No, no, I’m not – but what if they think it gets to me?”

“What’s there to think?” Merlin spat, “it clearly does. I don’t understand why you’re taking what Richard said to heart, he’s a horrible person.”

His companion took a breath now, too, apparently digesting what had been said. Merlin wondered if it was too much to hope that he had actually listened to the escort for once. “I know, but… it still gets to me.” His voice was quiet, and Merlin almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

“Arthur, what does this mean to you?” He finally asked, exasperated, the anger in him allowing him the confidence he needed as he waved his hand between himself and his companion. “I thought you might have some trust in me, but you didn’t even ask me about this guy, you just _assumed_ I could be shagging him.”

“I didn’t mean that,” Arthur tried half-heartedly, but Merlin only offered an incredulous look in return.

“I _know_ what you meant. But I need to know, why were you so bothered? What is _this_?”

The tense silence fell once more, enveloping them as they stared at each other, Merlin with more confidence than he had ever felt.

Arthur checked his watch, then, suddenly, “I have to go.”

Merlin stared at him in disbelief, a scoff leaving him before he had time to stop it, “what?”

His companion seemed to be about to get up, but paused, “I need time. I need to think about things. It’s not – _this_ isn’t anything, really.” Merlin swore he felt a stab, shocked by the words. He came out so hopeful, and now he had no idea how he would explain this turn of events to Freya. Would he? Could he even bear it anymore?

“It’s nothing?” He whispered in a breath, as Arthur stood up.

“No, I…” Arthur grunted, checking his watch again in frustration, “I don’t know. I just need to think about things, Merlin. Can you just give me time?”

Merlin stared up at him, weary, “Time for what? I’ve not got time to wait for you to decide if my job is such an issue for you.”

“No,” rushing a hand through his hair, Arthur’s eyes met his beseechingly, “just to think about everything.”

Merlin stared right back, considering his answer. He decided to wait a moment longer, too, just to irritate Arthur more, seeing how urgently he wanted to get back. Back to his job, his _normal_ job. “Alright,” he nodded, feeling his heart pounding. He wanted to say no, he wanted to refuse quickly, to forget about this man sooner rather than later. There was something stopping him, though, and when he noticed Arthur nod in thanks, he did not feel so regretful. “I won’t wait forever.”

Arthur nodded seriously, and they said their awkward, potentially final goodbye. Once Arthur was out of his eyeline, Merlin buried his head in his hands, groaning. How had he got so entangled in this mess?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey folks, a new chapter is upon us. Hope you enjoyed it, thanks for all your support so far! :)
> 
> Stay safe, everyone!


	18. Was it All Fake?

Arthur let his hand rush through his hair, frustrating the tidiness he had gone for that morning. Appearances didn’t matter at that moment, though, because he had bigger things concerning him. Well, mainly one thing, but it made him nervous enough. Putting his hands in his pockets, trying to prevent them from messing his hair further, he picked his fingers inside them, pursing his lips as he waited for his father to show up.

The week had been and gone in… he wished it had been a flash, really, but it had dragged on for some time. It had carried as he had expected it to, though. People bothering him, mostly the same three: Morgana, Gwaine, and Richard. Morgana and Gwaine he had learnt how to tolerate, sort of, but Richard continued to turn his glare to ice and caused his heart to fall when he cheerfully entered the room. His presence was a constant reminder of the decision he made just as the week began, and he had enough of time thinking about that outside of work.

 _I won’t wait forever_.

The reminder ran around in his head tormenting him, as well as all the other conversations he and Merlin had had during the brief time they had together. Because, it had been quite brief, hadn’t it? Did that mean what he felt – or _didn’t_ feel – wasn’t real? It was impossible to make any decision about Merlin when the rest of his life was in such disarray, when he hated everything he did.

Although nervous, a feeling he convinced himself he had never felt before, he felt sure of himself for once in his life. Everything needed to be re-evaluated, not just what he had with Merlin. His life followed the same pattern over and over, never moving because he was safe where he was, despite it never bringing him any real happiness.

This was the moment, though. His father had sent him a text, he was almost there. Warning him beforehand, because he obviously didn’t trust Arthur enough to have things ready for when he arrived. He might be right, because Arthur had barely done any work himself this week, and he felt a strange sort of excitement at the thought of his father’s reaction at finding out. It felt odd, going against him, not fighting for his approval, but there was a new, lighter sensation within him that made him sure it was the right way to go.

The door opened, Arthur gulped, took a breath, then plastered on a fake smile to greet his father. Uther, as usual, returned the smile for less than a second, until his face turned sour again and he glanced around the room, checking to see if there was something obvious Arthur might have slipped up on. Rolling his eyes, Arthur leaned against the desk, crossing his arms, waiting.

“How was your week?” Arthur decided to ask, attempting to have some sort of connection with his father. Once Uther had been less severe than he was now, but ever since his mother died, he only grew sterner with each passing month, until it became each passing day.

Uther shrugged, still inspecting the office, grabbing at some documents on the desk, “my mind was focused on other things.” Arthur knew what that was supposed to imply, but Uther stared him in the eye, just to drive the point home. Another day, it might have stung, but Arthur was used to it all by now.

* * *

The time dragged on, Arthur waiting, at first patiently, but slowly getting more and more anxious to just get out what he was holding in. Eventually, though, Uther looked up at him with a proud smile, something Arthur was _not_ so used to seeing.

“This all looks excellent,” the proud smile stayed, but the tone sounded somewhat surprised. Of course, Uther never actually expected him to do so well on his first trial week. “Perhaps I was wrong to only give you the week,”

“You might have a little faith in me, father.” Arthur wasn’t completely sure why he decided to play along, but it felt good to say that, reassuring himself he had faith. He would certainly need it.

“You must understand my concern, I have built this company up from nothing.” Uther once again turned serious, ready to spar.

“Well, you shouldn’t have worried,” Arthur smiled, some mischief playing on his lips as his confidence grew a little, “I got the best person for the job to look after it.”

The confusion playing on his face was not instantaneous, but when it came, it was quite a sight for Arthur to see; his father, never usually puzzled by anything, let his brows drop in a furrow. There was a hint of a smile on his lips, as if he hoped Arthur might be playing some sort of trick, but unfortunately for Uther, this was no prank.

“What do you mean?” Uther finally spoke, having waited too long for his son to elaborate.

“Well, you were right all along, father.” Arthur pushed himself off the desk, edging a little closer into Uther’s personal space, but not so much that he would make himself more anxious. His heart was beating faster with every word he said against the man, but he tried to focus on his feet firmly on the ground. “I have no interest in this business, and turns out, I’m not all that good at it.”

“But, this work, it’s good.” Uther tried, seeming to grasp at whatever he could, “give it another month or so and I will be happy when you take my place.”

“That work is good, perfect even, because it’s not mine.” Arthur took a small amount of pleasure in the drop of Uther’s expression as he finished, “it’s Morgana’s.”

“Why would this work be Morgana’s?”

“Because, it turns out, she is much better at this than me. Than anyone here, actually. She offered to help, and at first, I might have said no. I wanted to prove myself to you. But, then, I realised, I don’t want your approval.” His own smile fell, as he became serious himself, his eyes never leaving his father’s own as he stood his ground, “and there’s no weakness in accepting help.”

Uther was silent for a long moment, but Arthur’s gaze did not falter, despite the anxiety he felt throughout his body.

“Morgana did _everything_?” Uther spat, “are you so incapable?”

Arthur shrugged, “I want to move on from this, father.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I will not stay here.”

“Arthur?”

“ _I quit._ ”

* * *

“And you just… left?” Leon laughed, baffled, completely surprised.

Arthur nodded, sharing the chuckle, his heart still beating fast despite the fact that he was now with a friend enjoying lunch, knowing he no longer had to go back to his father or the work he despised. He was sure it hadn’t actually properly sunk in yet, because, if it had, he would not be laughing. Right now, though, he was happy to let the bliss of ignorance lift his spirits with a friend as they shared a toast.

“I can’t…” Leon shook his head, still wrapping himself around it, “I can’t believe you actually, _finally_ did it!”

Arthur rolled his eyes.

“After I’ve been telling you for so long!”

“Yes, I know. You can’t claim this victory, though, I’m pretty sure Morgana already has her eyes on it.” He shrugged, taking a sip of his drink.

He lowered it slowly, though, when he noticed a small, knowing smile spread on Leon’s face, as the man watched him carefully.

Arthur frowned, eyeing him suspiciously, “what?”

“Was it Morgana? Who finally convinced you?”

“She certainly wants to think so,” Arthur joked, hoping it was enough.

Leon’s answering stare, with the same smile covering his face, suggested it was not so.

“ _What_?”

“Well, what was it, then?” Leon raised an eyebrow, “or should I ask, _who_?”

The pair stared at each other for a matter of seconds, but it felt longer to Arthur, who was trying to decipher what on earth his friend was talking about. When he realised, however, he wished he could simply play dumb, but Leon noticed the realisation dawning on his face.

Sitting back, Arthur’s eyes darted to his drink, his fingers playing on the side of the glass as he hummed, “it was a lot of things.”

“Right,” Arthur could practically hear Leon roll his eyes as he scoffed, “but there was perhaps one thing, or _person_ , in particular…?”

Arthur stayed quiet, hoping his friend might leave off the topic if he did so.

He did not. “Come on, we’ve been trying to persuade you for years now to leave that job. Then, there’s only one change in your life, and suddenly you leave, no hesitation.”

“There was some hesitation,” Arthur murmured, taking a swig of his drink, preparing himself for the inevitable revelation.

“Just admit that it was Merlin who finally convinced you. I won’t be annoyed that this man you met not long ago has more influence than I do,” Arthur looked up to see Leon smirking, too happy for his own good.

“Maybe,” he shrugged, his voice losing the happiness it had possessed at the beginning of lunch. Still, he had been feeling this weight in him all week, reminding him how callous he had been.

“Arthur?” Leon spoke, his voice taking a less than cheerful tone, “what did you do?”

Unfortunately, his friend could read him like a damn book.

“What do you mean?” He looked up sheepishly, causing Leon to bury his head in his hands, groaning.

“Why can’t you have nice things at the same time?” He complained into his hands, “it’s like you want yourself to be miserable one way or the other.”

Arthur watched him with some sympathy and couldn’t help but feel exactly the same. Maybe Leon was on to something. Why did he let himself meet Merlin for lunch that day, when he was aching from a hangover and had dealt with Richard and his father right before? It was a huge mistake, and he had lashed out at the wrong person. Even that lingering sense of jealousy left him during his training week, and he was left with nothing but guilt.

“You might as well tell me what happened,” Leon’s head finally came out from his hands as he gathered himself for the inquisition. “You know if Gwaine finds out, he will fight you.” His attempt at levity sunk hard, and Arthur held his head up with his elbow pressing uncomfortably into the wooden table.

“Fine,” Arthur sighed. “Richard saw him out with another man,”

Leon squinted, “Richard? How can you trust him?” He scoffed.

Taking a breath, Arthur sat up straight, nodding firmly, “Merlin… he’s not… he’s…”

“Arthur,”

“Merlin’s an escort.” He rushed, wondering if Leon caught it, hoping he wouldn’t have to say it again.

Leon stared at him for a long time, making Arthur feel irritated under his gaze. “O…kay, not what I was expecting.”

Arthur rolled his eyes.

“So, your whole relationship was fake? Everything?”

“I don’t know,” throwing his hands up, Arthur shook his head, “it was at first. But then, I don’t know when, it just… wasn’t.”

Again, Leon was silent for a moment too long. “Were you faking it at my party?”

Arthur thought about it, considering, “I’m not sure. I think, maybe, that’s when it started to… not be?”

“Right, so, when you met his friends, that was all real?”

Arthur nodded this time, sure of it, “it wasn’t a booking, or anything.”

Leon hummed, scratching his beard in thought. “So… when Richard told you he saw Merlin with someone else…?”

“Merlin told me he was on a job,”

“And you don’t believe him?” Leon tilted his head to the side.

“No, it’s not that,” he scratched his head, his fingers wrapping around his drink, “it was just that, Richard got so much pleasure telling me about it. It was embarrassing, and what if it happened again? Or what if someone else saw him with a client?” Arthur felt the embarrassment rising in him again, his cheeks reddening, but he felt more guilt at the accusations now than when he had confronted Merlin with them a week ago.

“Is that it?” Leon rolled his eyes in irritation, sitting back, “so, what did you tell Merlin?”

Arthur’s eyes darted to and from his friend, and he noticed when the realisation hit, Leon sitting forwards again, leaning across the table.

“You asked him those questions?” He honestly looked angrier than his father had that morning, “and you think _Merlin’s_ the idiot?”

Arthur wanted to defend himself, was close to doing so, but caved under Leon’s glare. “He said he’d give me time, to think about what to do.”

“Maybe he is an idiot,”

Arthur shot his friend a glare, receiving only a shrug in return.

“But he must still like you, then.”

Arthur couldn’t help the hint of hope rising within him.

“Do _you_ like him, though, Arthur?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry, I know I need to be more consistent with my updates! I don't know where the time goes at all anymore. I have finished my dissertation, though, so there are now fewer distractions :)
> 
> Thanks for your continuing love and support, hope you all like this chapter and stay safe everyone!


	19. He Hates Me

Merlin’s phone sat on the table beside his breakfast, but he no longer routinely checked it, knowing there was nothing to see. It had been a week now, and while he knew Arthur was busy with his training as chief, he meant what he had said, he would not keep waiting around, especially if it meant waiting for the inevitable rejection. He let out a sigh, realising he must have been doing so quite a lot that morning, when Gaius cleared his throat, sitting opposite from him.

“Merlin, is something troubling you?”

His eyes looked up, trying for innocent, but his guardian eyed him wearily.

“You’ve been acting quite strangely, and I don’t know how to deal with your mood swings.”

“What mood swings?” He tried, looking slightly offended.

Gaius only quirked an eyebrow, in the way he always did when the game was up, and Merlin shrugged.

“It’s nothing you can help me with,” he swirled his spoon around in the porridge, allowing his face to drop dejectedly since Gaius was obviously not falling for his attempts to let this go.

“Would you like to share the problem with me?”

“ _Gaius_ ,”

“I don’t like seeing you like this,” the old man admitted, knowing how to play the boy.

Merlin groaned internally, rolling his eyes as he dropped his spoon quickly, splashing some porridge by accident. “It’s just… problems, with someone.”

Gaius’ eyes widened as he sat back, realising what Merlin was referring to. The escort was regretting getting out of bed.

“You know, Merlin, I’ve been in love before.”

“Please, Gaius,” He buried his head in his hands.

“I’ve had my fair share of relationships, and the problems that come with them.”

“ _Really_ , Gaius,” Merlin poked his head from his palms, pulling a face, “I don’t want to hear about this.”

Merlin sunk his head on the table as his guardian continued anyway, falling into a chuckle as he finally brought his tales to an early close.

“Alright, why don’t you tell me the problem.” Merlin picked his head up, looking at Gaius with hesitant eyes.

“Nothing,” he shrugged, scratching a finger against the table as he let his eyes roll towards it.

“Is it something to do with your time management?”

Glaring, Merlin sat up, “what? No! There’s nothing wrong with my time management,”

Gaius’ stare challenged him, “you are quite busy.”

Merlin huffed, making strange noises as he shook his head, “maybe if you didn’t have me cleaning the pharmacy all the time, I wouldn’t be so busy! How does it even get in that state all the time, anyway?”

“Don’t blame me because you give yourself too much work,” Gaius shrugged, staring at his ward, daring him to continue. Merlin knew if he did, he would only get more, worse, jobs.

“Fine, fine,” letting his shoulders sag again, he slumped back into his moping position against the table, “no, it’s nothing to do with my schedule. Not really. I don’t know,” he frowned, “he just told me he needed time to think. It’s been a week now, though, so I think he just doesn’t know how to tell me he’s not interested.”

He didn’t bother looking at Gaius as the old man hummed, deciding to wrap into himself in as pitiful a position as possible.

“You should wait and see, my boy, before jumping to conclusions.”

Merlin only nodded, but his hope was dwindling easily.

* * *

Freya seemed not to be much help either, but he could tell she felt guilty for getting his hopes up. It was hardly her fault, though, and Merlin should have known the situation had become too good to be true. He sat beside her at her desk, flicking through some profiles of new escorts, people he would probably never meet. His eyes rushed over them with disinterest, though he would occasionally pipe up and ask Freya more about one, just for something to do.

“It’s a shame you’ve got an appointment with Elena tonight,” Freya scooted closer, ignoring the paperwork she should be doing, and Merlin felt a little bad for his pouting. “We could have had a movie night or something.” She elbowed him, and he offered her a small smile, shrugging.

“It’s fine,” he sighed. “Maybe she’s learnt how to dance.”

Freya grinned, but shook her head, “you could always teach her.”

Shutting the folder of escorts, he leaned on his other elbow now to chat, both of them ignoring what work they had to get done eventually, “between this job, the pharmacy, and my PhD, I’m not sure I’d find the time, or the will.”

Laughing, the secretary patted his shoulder with sympathy, “are you at the pharmacy later, then?”

Merlin nodded, rocking his chair slightly, “Gaius said it might help distract me, but we both know there’s just more mess.”

It was at that moment Lance came in, nodding to the pair, already a look of pity on his face. Merlin blinked and didn’t open his eyes again for a few seconds, preparing himself. Now there were two of them, and Lance had not had his chance to comfort him yet.

“How are you?” Lance handed over the coffees, blowing over his own as the steam rose from it. “Heard anything?”

Merlin looked down, shaking his head. He didn’t need to take a glance to know that his friends were sharing a look, and it only served to make him feel smaller. This was ridiculous, he knew, since Arthur had even admitted they were not really anything. Friends, maybe, but anything more?

“I’m sorry,” Freya pushed her side against him kindly, “I thought he was interested.”

It had been nice to hear it before, but now, it just felt like another punch in the gut.

“How could he? Nobody’s interested in dating an escort,” he mumbled.

“Merlin,” Lance perched on the edge of the desk, looking down at him seriously, “just give him a little time.”

“It’s already been a week,”

“But you said he’s working, and you know what that’s like, so just don’t lose heart yet.”

Merlin looked up to his friend, who seemed sincere, and he wanted to trust him, but he had felt that hope before. “I’m pretty sure he hates me right now,” he mumbled, crossing his arms on the desk and resting his chin on top. He knew how pitiful he appeared, but right now, he didn’t mind. He had finally opened up to somebody, finally believed somebody might see past his job, but then it all came crashing down so quickly that he was still having trouble digesting it all.

“It didn’t seem like that when he met us,” Freya suggested, “he asked a lot about you, he wanted to get to know you.”

“Maybe he’s just nosey,”

“Or, _maybe_ , he needs to figure out what he wants.” Lance raised an eyebrow, and Merlin wondered whose side he was on. Although he was right, of course.

“What do you want, Merlin?” Freya asked kindly, pushing her hair behind her shoulder as she smiled sadly.

He shrugged, “I will give him time, but I feel like an idiot. How do I even get over someone I never actually dated?”

* * *

Working at the pharmacy just made his day worse, Gaius leaving him once again to sort out prescriptions. It was thankfully less busy today, though, and he was able to focus less on angry, impatient customers and more on his thoughts. He wondered about what his friends had said, about everything really. Although he had not wanted to check before, he now itched a little more to check his phone, but he knew if Gaius caught him on it on the job he would have words, the old man disapproving of it, even if there was nobody in, so it was hardly ‘unprofessional’. Still, maybe it was for the best, he knew his heart would only sink when he saw there were no messages. He wanted to think maybe Lance had a point, and maybe Freya was right, too, but a week was a long time. Too long a time to dwell on something that was never really a _thing_ to begin with, apparently.

The bell sounded on the door, and he heaved himself up from where he sat hidden behind some shelves, away from the world. When he saw her, his eyes widened, and the panic flared in him again as it had when she first came in, only this time for quite a different reason. Arthur already knew about most things in his life, so there was no worry now. But how was he supposed to go about this situation? Would Morgana know? _Probably,_ he thought; as much as Arthur complained, the two were close, he knew, and there was no doubt she likely forced the confession out of him anyway. He was more surprised she had not dragged her brother here by the ear, to be honest.

He wondered how he looked, knowing full well it wasn’t great. Still, there could be plenty of reasons for that. Raking a hand through his hair, trying to neaten it without really thinking, he hoped she would not think him so pitiful. It wasn’t like he was going through a proper breakup, after all.

“Merlin,” Morgana smiled pleasantly, but he could see the awkwardness in the lack of crinkles around her eyes. He couldn’t help but blink at the use of his real name, though, and she smirked then, “he said he’d told everyone.”

Merlin shrugged, nodding, “I guess he has, yeah.”

There was a pause, a tension hanging in the air around them, and Merlin held his breath for an impressive amount of time as he tilted backwards of forwards on his heels, his eyes shifting, not wanting to catch hers and engage in whatever conversation she might decide on.

“Is Gaius here?” She finally asked, and Merlin looked around, despite knowing full well Gaius was not there.

“Er, no, no,” his lips turned into a thin line, and again he swayed.

Morgana looked at him expectantly, “I’m supposed to pick up my prescription?”

His eyes once again widened, and he stammered, bringing his swaying to an abrupt stop as he realised where they were, and what job Gaius had put him in charge of. “Yeah, of course!” He smiled briefly, before rushing to the back to search through the prescriptions. He was grateful for the break, and that she did not speak while he searched so he might get it done quicker and she would leave sooner. Scanning through the bags, his eyes still somewhat untrained in this job, he was longer than he wanted to be, but managed to find her prescription eventually.

“Here,” he smiled, the falseness of it emulating her own, and handed her the bag.

As she took it, he had hoped she might just leave, but there was sympathy in her stare, and she lingered for a moment too long. In the brief time he had gotten to know her, he already knew she was not one to stand by and not offer her advice, asked for or not. It was a trait he liked in her, believing she was a good force in Arthur’s life, but he was comfortable simply wallowing alone (and sometimes with friends) for now.

“How are you?” She asked, but he could tell she was aching to say more, simply holding back for the moment.

“Fine,” he nodded, “and you?” _And him?_ Morgana was perceptive; she heard.

“I’m good,” she offered another smile, this time something truer than before, but there was still the sympathy lying behind her expression. “Arthur’s… he’s changing,” Morgana struggled with her words, and Merlin didn’t hide his confusion. “He’s making changes, done a lot of thinking.”

Merlin felt a little bitter, wondering if at all those thoughts had _anything_ to do with him, and, if so, why he hadn’t heard anything. He was stumped, though, when Arthur’s sister spoke again.

“He left the company,” she let out, biting her lip.

“Really?” He blinked.

She nodded and grinned, and Merlin found himself feeling something lighter, but confusion still weighed on his mind. What did this mean? Did it mean anything, really, for him? When Arthur said he needed to think, Merlin assumed it was only about them.

“I guess that’s good,” he gave a smile, “really.” There was sincerity in his voice, because he was actually glad to hear it, knowing Arthur’s hatred for his job was one of the focuses of his life right from the start. He wondered how the other man must be feeling now, without a job, and a wave of guilt hit. Perhaps Lance was fair in telling him not to rush, because it seemed Arthur had a lot of decisions to make.

“Not for Uther,” he found himself laughing at the way Morgana’s eyes lit at the mention of her father’s disappointment. “He even started treating me with some respect, whether he wants me to run the company, or simply to get back at Arthur, who knows.”

“Would you run it, if he asked?”

“God no,” her eyes went wide, shining with mischief, and Merlin felt considerably less awkward now as he shoved his hands in his pockets, continuing their chat until she realised the time.

“It was nice to see you,” he said, his sadness returning in his smile.

“You too,” she nodded, and again, lingered as her face fell. “I’ll talk to him,” their eyes met, as she spoke quietly, seriously.

Merlin shrugged, letting out a breath as he pursed his lips, “I don’t know that he’ll listen,” he said with resignation.

Morgana shook her head, “I don’t know, Merlin. A few months ago, maybe, when I didn’t expect him to quit his job.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let us all just agree that my attempts at sticking to an update schedule are abhorrent, and hope I will change my ways soon! 
> 
> Thanks for all your support despite my terrible punctuality, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! Not too long to go now, folks :)


	20. An Intervention

It was still rather early in the day when Morgana came by, Arthur offering a fake smile as he tried to hold the door so she would not be able to come in. His eyes caught Gwen standing behind his sister though, and he could not hide the frown of intrigue as she looked more apologetic than his sister at their visit. Although, it was not _much_ more, he noticed.

“Morgana,” he stood with his hand gripping the door, wondering if he was too tired to hold them back if they were to just push past him, something Morgana was not against doing if need be. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

His sister rolled his eyes in her way before doing what he hoped he could prevent, but found himself lacking the energy to keep her from passing over the threshold. “Come in,” he muttered to himself, “make yourself at home.” Gwen followed, at least having the decency to appear guilty, but she still sat herself down as Morgana paced to the kitchen with a stride that only meant something bad was coming Arthur’s way.

“Please, help yourself!” He shouted into the kitchen, hearing his sister grabbing something as he threw himself back on to the sofa, his place of comfort for the past few days. He tried to tell himself he was allowed the break after leaving his job, but he knew he should probably be doing more than he had. Maybe that was what Morgana was here for, because she never could keep out of his life for more than a second.

Gwen sat in the armchair, watching him with a strange smile, “I heard you left the company?”

“I see Morgana has told everyone,” Arthur rolled his eyes, but at Gwen’s hard stare he regretted it in an instant. “Sorry,” he shrugged, and her gaze softened a little. “It’s been quite a strange week.”

“I can imagine,” she nodded, “it’s probably all quite overwhelming, but it’s great that you quit.”

Arthur’s attempt at a smile merged with a grimace, as his thought process had been all over the place recently, and he found himself many times panicking that he had made the wrong decision. It might not have been the best job in the world, it might have been something he hated with a passion, but it was stable, right? He could have replaced his father eventually and lived a somewhat comfortable life, and in a second he had thrown it all away. Just thinking about it now made him want to roll back into bed.

“Gwen’s right,” Morgana announced then, handing over a coffee to Gwen before wrapping the now free hand around her own as she sat down.

“I suppose I don’t get one?” Arthur pouted childishly, but Morgana only shrugged.

“I only have two hands, couldn’t carry three.”

“Whatever,” he blinked slowly, taking a deep breath before facing his sister. “What is this, then?” He waved his hand between the two women, settled in his home as if they had been there all morning, trying to appear innocent. Arthur knew them both better, though, then to believe that. “Some kind of intervention or something?” He grinned.

Gwen was the first to look over, sharing a glance with Morgana, before they stared directly back to him. Arthur’s expression dropped, along with his patience.

“I’m just here to mediate,” Gwen spoke after a brief pause, but the sweetness in her voice did not hide the seriousness of whatever this was about.

“What could I have possibly done wrong _now_? I left my job, what else can you lecture me on?” Arthur growled, throwing his hands in the air.

“Arthur,” Morgana stared at him, speaking sternly but not raising her voice, “you know.”

“Do I?” He argued back, just for the sake of it.

“It’s Merlin,” Gwen let out after a ridiculous staring match ensued between the siblings, neither wanting to give in.

“You know, the boy you’ve had following you around to every event,” Morgana raised her eyebrows as Arthur crossed his arms, “the one you just dropped because… what was the reason again?” Her finger tapped against her chin, and Arthur looked away with a sigh.

“It’s none of your business, Morgana,” he shook his head. “Leon’s already given me _the talk_ , so you can leave now. Goodbye.”

“I thought the reason you left daddy’s business was to show you were more mature,”

“And to make my _own_ decisions,” he swivelled his head to face her, neck protesting against it, but he refused to show the ache it caused.

“Well, I’d let you, but right now you’re not making the _right_ decisions.”

“Oh, and you always do?”

“Alright, stop.” Gwen sighed before Arthur might say any more, an irritated note in her tone. “This is getting us nowhere, let’s start over.”

“Or end here,” Arthur smiled bitterly.

Gwen rolled her eyes towards him, piercing him with a weary glare that he might not have accepted from anyone else; Morgana’s friend was a sweet woman, but Arthur knew her well, and while he openly showed his disdain for his sister, Gwen had a temper that actually, sort of, only a little, frightened him.

“You don’t have to take the advice,” she continued as if she had not been interrupted, “but would it kill you to listen?”

“I wouldn’t put it past Morgana to kill me if I don’t follow it,” he muttered.

“He’s right,” his sister nodded to Gwen.

“Well, that’s something for when he does, and I am _not_ getting involved in that.”

Arthur sniffed, “alright, fine. What about Merlin? I’m sure you won’t tell me anything I haven’t heard.”

Morgana leaned forward then, hands intertwined as if she were a therapist helping a patient, a condescending image Arthur did not need. “Arthur, you know I don’t enjoy getting involved in your life,”

Even Gwen joined him in scoffing then, Morgana rolling her eyes.

“Well, my life doesn’t revolve around you, anyway. But you just constantly make these decisions, these _terrible_ decisions-”

“Morgana,” Gwen frowned.

“Fine, you make perfectly fine decisions that just happen to go wrong.” She looked to Gwen waiting for her friend’s approval before continuing, “you’ve been out of work for a few days now, why haven’t you called him?”

“I’ve been thinking,” he tried.

“What more is there to think about? You were happy, with him.”

“She’s right,” Gwen nodded along, “you complained a lot less when you’d been around him.”

“Does that mean anything? Maybe I just got happier?”

“Arthur,” Morgana droned as if he were stupid, “he got you to quit your job, even _I_ couldn’t do that!”

“He really has changed you, for the better.”

Silence descended then, Arthur already having too much to think about. He brushed a hand over his eyes as he groaned, “maybe.” He practically heard the victorious smile appear on Morgana’s face. “But it’s been longer than a week, now,” he sighed, dropping his hand to look at the pair with sad eyes. “I haven’t heard anything from him, either. He’s probably getting on with his life.”

“Arthur, you’re the one who told him you needed time.” Gwen reasoned softly, “why would he contact you? He’s just respecting your boundaries.”

He knew it was a poor excuse, but he hoped the escort might have reached out, because he was not sure he could do it himself.

“Still, he’s an escort,” he sighed, without any real conviction. The silent stares he received in reply told him his second excuse had gone down just as well as the first. “I just want somebody I can trust,”

“Merlin _is_ trustworthy,” Morgana almost groaned, “you should know better than anyone not to judge someone based on their job.”

Rushing a hand through his hair, he slouched backwards, wishing he could just melt into the chair and forget about everything for another day or so.

“He even told you his real name!”

He shrugged, “is it that big a deal?”

Morgana huffed, then looked away as she shook her head, “yes.” Again, she looked back at him, “I don’t know if I should tell you this, but I actually ran into Merlin once at a pharmacy, I think he said he just works in the back.”

“He told me he did some work for a family friend,” Arthur found himself informing her, sitting up straighter as he waited for the story, which only brightened her stare.

“See, he told you that. When I met him, it was just after the barbeque, and he told me he doesn’t tell clients these things, he said he didn’t want them getting close to him.”

Arthur didn’t respond for a few minutes, then only shrugged, trying to appear casual.

“So, it means you weren’t just a client to him, Arthur!”

“Didn’t you go on dates with him? Like you met his friends?” Gwen chirped in before Arthur could properly react.

“Er,” his eyes dropped, “I don’t know, we never said they were dates.”

“God give me strength,” Morgana murmured under her breath, taking in a deep breath as she closed her eyes.

Gwen looked over to her before speaking to Arthur again, “just because you never said they were, doesn’t mean they weren’t.”

“You haven’t opened yourself up at all since you dated Richard, but I saw you getting better with Merlin.” Morgana’s eyes turned tentative, caring, even, so much so that Arthur almost had to do a double take. “You only stopped it because you were scared, and you know it.”

Arthur ran the thought over in his head, because really, they were probably, very likely, actual dates. “Even if that’s true,” he hedged, “what can I do? The last time we spoke wasn’t exactly… It,” he scratched the back of his head anxiously, “it didn’t go well.”

The tentativeness in her gaze soon evaporated as Morgana eyed him sternly, searching for something as she spoke carefully, “what did you do?”

“Nothing! Nothing, _really_.” Even Gwen stared at him with suspicion now, and it was hard not to cave under only Morgana’s glare. “I might have… I didn’t exactly say I was _against_ the idea of anything, but…”

“But?”

“I might have said that whatever it was we were doing wasn’t really anything,” he rushed out in a single breath, hoping they didn’t really catch it. Morgana’s ears caught anything she might be able to argue with, though, and her eyes pierced into him immediately with a stare that might turn lesser men into stone. Arthur’s eyes widened as he felt his body stop, and he wondered if she might actually have such powers.

“Sometimes, Arthur Pendragon, you can be such an idiot.”

Arthur’s lips turned into a thin line, “I thought you were supposed to stop this sort of thing,” he asked Gwen pitifully, rather than trying to deny it.

Gwen shrugged without sympathy, “I’m only here to stop either of you from saying something that’s incorrect.”

Arthur flinched, but he knew he probably deserved it.

“What do I do?” He asked finally, all dignity leaving him as if it had never been there in the first place. At this moment, he wasn’t sure it had. “It’s been longer than a week now, what can I do?”

“Call him,” Morgana spoke with urgency, “you call him now, and tell him you’re an idiot and you made a mistake.”

“Right now?”

Morgana’s wide-eyed stare answered him, and he fumbled for his phone in his pocket. Once he dialled the number, he paused before hitting call, looking up at the women watching eagerly as if he was their drama of the day. It was still only morning.

“Do I have to do it with you watching?”

Morgana looked ready to nod, but Gwen stepped in, standing as she eyed his sister, suggesting she do the same. “We’ll go in the other room.”

Arthur made sure to carefully watch them leave, aware that they most likely would still eavesdrop on his conversation; when they returned, it was likely they would point out every single mistake he made on the call.

With them sufficiently out of the way, his attention turned back to the phone. His eyes faltered, his breath catching as his heart thumped against his chest. He wasn’t even sure what it was he was supposed to say.

He pressed the button with a crippling uncertainty, then brought the phone to his ear.

He waited, until it rang out.

His heart caught in his throat, before his hand dropped slowly.

Had he left it too late?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arthur finally getting his damn act together!  
> Hope you all liked the chapter, thanks for all the support so far, you guys are great :)


	21. Tell Me What You're Thinking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so, because I like you guys, and also I love writing this, I've decided to gift you all the next chapter very early! I hope you all enjoy! :)

Merlin hated the pharmacy with a growing passion, and he grunted as he tidied yet another mess Gaius had left for him. What was the old man doing behind here? Merlin wondered, shaking his head, part of him believing he did it just to mess with him. Well, it was working.

“You said you wanted something to occupy you,” Gaius only shrugged when Merlin had complained.

“I meant something _fun_ , with a friend.” Merlin rolled his eyes, but knew he was done for. His friends were probably busy, anyway, and even if they weren’t, they might have had enough of his moping. Although he refused to admit he was moping. He was just… thinking.

“Anyone I know?” Gaius raised an inquisitive eyebrow, and the escort felt his heart dip. “Still a sore topic I see.”

“That’s kind of why I need a distraction,” he sighed. Gaius, thankfully, stayed quiet after that, but still insisted on his company at the pharmacy that day. This is what he got for telling the old man he was lacking in work.

Bored, his movements were sluggish, his body and mind still rather depressed. He supposed it was alright now, though, to accept it was time to get over it. Even Freya was beginning to believe it might just be long enough now to conclude Arthur was not going to get in touch. It would have been nice to have been told, at least, but perhaps it was a mercy not being outright rejected? A question for someone else, he thought, or he might just think too hard on it. Not that he had been doing already… Not at all. 

He frowned as he picked up another empty vial, looking around, noticing an empty bin sat by the door. Gaius’ eyesight wasn’t bad at all, and yet, he still didn’t throw things away. Merlin knew from experience, though, that his guardian was very selective when it came to most of his senses, so it hardly surprised him. If he brought it up with the pharmacist, no doubt he would ask for thanks for giving him a distraction. Merlin would have to have words with his mother. Or earn enough money to get his own proper place.

The pharmacy was a little busy today, and Merlin found himself listening to the sounds, even hearing a customer actually speaking of him; the man was grateful that it was Gaius holding the fort, because “that boy, I think his name was _Mervin?_ Well, he was useless!” The real Mervin, now in the back doing chores very lazily, shook his head in exasperation. He would have guessed who this man might be, but to be honest he got the picture from many customers that they preferred when he stayed in the back. Story of his life, he scoffed to nobody. A smile came to his face, though, when he heard Gaius offer a defence for him. Well, sort of. Enough of one.

His eyes caught the clock, checking if time had gone any faster and it might be time for a break. Hardly close. He muttered under his breath, eyes scanning over the mess that still cluttered the room, having made little progress. It was a good job that the place was busy, or Gaius might come and inspect his work, which right now wasn’t much. Still, he found himself distracted again when he heard his name mentioned, by Gaius this time. It was quiet though; he was speaking to someone. Merlin blinked slowly, hoping it wasn’t another customer, because he wasn’t sure how many times Gaius would defend him. Was he _really_ that bad?

“Merlin!” Gaius shouted from the front, coming closer to the back but not fully. “There’s someone here for you, and if it’s another complaint about your customer service I _will_ give you that training again.”

“You never gave it me in the first place!” Merlin called back, making his way out of the room with his own anxiety. Would a customer really try and call him out like that?

“Did you mess up a client’s prescription?” Gaius continued the shouting conversation, and Merlin rolled his eyes.

“No, you don’t even let me sort them! You know I just hand out the ready ones.”

“Did you mix them up?”

“I might not be a pharmacist, Gaius, but I can read.” He sighed as he reached the old man behind the shelves. “Didn’t you ask him what he wanted?”

Gaius shrugged, “he said he wanted you.”

“I don’t even work here,” Merlin muttered, “I shouldn’t be yelled at for doing _voluntary_ work.”

“If you get it wrong you should,” the old man disagreed.

“Er, hello?” The voice interrupted them with a nervous laugh, calling from the front, and Merlin’s heart picked up. “It’s nothing about messing up prescriptions if that’s… It’s something else.”

Merlin’s eyes widened, his knees going shaky, and he felt his hand grabbing on to one of the shelves by his side. Gaius was watching him with a frown, now, but Merlin wasn’t sure he could explain.

“One minute!” He found himself shouting automatically, surprised he managed to get that out. He wasn’t sure why he had said it, either, because he didn’t know if he could go out there and face him.

“Merlin,” Gaius whispered now with an urgency, at least picking up on the escort’s discomfort.

“It’s him,” he choked out. “The one I told you about.”

“Oh,” Gaius mouthed. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

Merlin stared at him with frightened eyes, “what? I don’t know! He’s here! How is he here?”

“I don’t know, Merlin,” the old man shrugged, irritated, “but if his presence stops your sulking for the next few weeks then I think you’d better go speak to him.”

Merlin’s frown turned into annoyance, “I haven’t been sulking.”

“Merlin,” Gaius sighed with exasperation that had grown with his care for the boy, “you’ve been waiting for him to speak to you, he is here now. Go out there, or I’ll speak to him myself.”

The escort’s stomach dropped; now that was a fearful idea indeed. “Okay,” he whispered nervously. Taking a breath through his nose, he watched Gaius smile, trying to motivate him, quite clearly for his own motives but Merlin tried to tell himself it was mostly sincere.

Slowly, he stepped from behind the shelf, and catching sight of Arthur, thankfully looking away at that moment, his heart raced again. He turned back to Gaius, mouthing to him helplessly, but the old man was unsympathetic.

“I can’t hear you,” Gaius whispered, shaking his head.

Merlin clenched his jaw, and took another breath, turning away from the pharmacist before striding – how he hoped it appeared – towards the front desk. Arthur’s attention turned to him when he heard the man’s footsteps. At least he looked just as flustered as Merlin, the escort noticed as he checked his appearance; he didn’t look awful, because really, how could he? Still, he didn’t have his usual cocky smile gracing his face, or that crease in his forehead when he was angry or closed off. No, there was something real in his appearance, and Merlin felt the first flutter of hope he had in over a week. He tried not to let it fester, though, remembering what happened the last time. It was that thought that helped him keep his composure, closing himself off some before Arthur spoke.

“Merlin,” Arthur breathed out, and Merlin swore he heard some relief there. “I wasn’t sure you were going to see me,” the blonde poked his head around Merlin, looking for the old man with a little amusement in his eyes.

“I thought you might be an angry customer,” he shrugged awkwardly.

“I gathered,” Arthur tried a smile. “I’d be more scared of the guy in charge.”

“Yeah, well,” Merlin whispered, “who says I’m not?” He finished quickly, as Gaius chose that moment to come out of his hiding place with a stern glare directed at their visitor. Merlin wasn’t truly afraid of him, because he knew the old man always stood behind him when he needed him.

“Er,” Arthur scratched the back of his head, clearly uncomfortable under Gaius’ glare, and Merlin felt a little better at the fact. “Is there somewhere we could talk, maybe?”

Merlin checked the clock again, but remembered he had looked not long ago, “I don’t have a break until-”

“Go now,” Gaius interrupted in an instant. “You might as well have a break, there’s been no progress in that room, I’ve seen.” The stare was directed at him now, and honestly Merlin hated that his loyalties switched so quickly. “You’ll have a lot to do when you come back.”

Merlin’s lips turned into a thin line of acceptance.

* * *

Arthur leaned against the table in the back-room Merlin had supposed to have been cleaning, Gaius allowing them to take their conversation in there so long as the visitor didn’t touch anything, “unless it’s to help you clean!”

The man crossed his arms and appeared serious for a moment, until his eyes glanced around the room and he frowned, “you’ve been tidying this all morning?” Merlin nodded slowly. “It doesn’t look very clean.”

Merlin shot him an aggravated stare, narrowing his eyes, “yes, and I’m sure you know all about cleaning! I bet you ask your cleaner for tips,”

“For your information, I don’t have a cleaner.” Arthur ducked his head, “anymore.” He mumbled.

At any other time, Merlin would most likely have shared a laugh, and Arthur’s expression suggested that was something he was trying to get him to do. The joke fell short though, as Merlin’s anxiety was leaving his body, replaced with blind anger.

“I assume you didn’t come all this way to insult my work,” he crossed his arms. “I haven’t heard from you in a while, how come you just showed up here?”

Arthur fumbled, and Merlin took some pleasure watching the usually rather confident man squirm under his own glare – something he would have to tell Gaius he had clearly perfected. “No, well, I tried to call,” he explained, “it rang out, though.”

Merlin frowned, “what? When?”

“This morning.”

“Oh, I’ve been here. I usually don’t put my phone on.”

Again, something like relief crossed Arthur’s face, but Merlin was still on the fence about this whole situation. Still, he shrugged, allowing the excuse.

“I wasn’t sure whether to come here, but I didn’t want… I thought it might have rung out because you were ignoring me.”

“Would you blame me?” Merlin scoffed, “I told you I wouldn’t wait.”

“I know,” Arthur sighed miserably. “That’s why I came; I’m glad this is the first place I tried, or I might have been searching awhile!” Again, the attempt at a joke fell flat, only making things more awkward.

“Right,” Merlin nodded, tapping his foot quickly against the floor. “So, I assume you’ve been thinking?” He spoke coldly, not wanting to open himself up to hope for even a second. The fact that Arthur was here meant something good, though, right? Freya would be screaming at him right now for even thinking otherwise if she knew.

Arthur nodded, but said nothing.

“Arthur listen,” the escort huffed, “I’m actually pretty busy, as you can see, so if you’re not going to actually speak to me can you either forget about it or text me when you’re ready?”

“I left my job,” the other man spurted out instead, startling Merlin a little.

“Er, yeah,” he frowned, but let himself get pulled in. “I heard, well done.”

Arthur nodded, “thanks.”

Again, there is a silence that envelopes the room, and Merlin wants nothing more than for Arthur to speak to him that he has an urge to go and shake him. He once might have found the confident, arrogant Arthur to be irritating, but he was nothing compared to emotionally crippled Arthur. Had nobody taught the man any basic human communication? His brain instantly supplied the most likely answer to that, but he still refused to feel guilty, since Arthur had chosen to come here.

“I never thought I would leave,” Arthur looked at him with a faraway sort of stare, and Merlin could only listen with some confusion. “I always thought, even with Morgana badgering me, I would be there forever. But, while I was being tested by my father this past week, I kept thinking about our chat, about what I actually _wanted_ to do, and I don’t know… I guess I got tired of dreaming.”

Merlin’s anger fell a little as he let the man opposite him bare this part of him, “I’m happy for you, really.” He said more sincerely than before. Arthur smiled then, and the escort hoped perhaps they were making some progress, although he had no idea in which direction. “My breaks aren’t that long, though, and I don’t think Gaius will be all too pleased if I slack anymore.”

“No, he did seem rather annoyed,” Arthur nodded, once again staring around the room, “might even be more terrifying than my father.”

And Merlin actually huffed a small chuckle then, “no, I’ve met your father, he is definitely worse. Gaius means well, and he wouldn’t give me any trial weeks.”

“I heard some of what he said, I think that’s mainly because he, like me, can see you have no skills.”

Merlin rolled his eyes in a fond sort of way, but it had been a time since he had, and while it was nice to get back into that sort of playful bond, he couldn’t just dive right back in. Not without some surety, at least.

Arthur must have seen the anxiety in his eyes, both of their smiles falling slowly, simultaneously. “Morgana and Leon have both had words,” the blonde cleared his throat, “telling me to get my act together.”

The escort found himself, rather more confidently than usual, rocking his head back as he groaned. When his eyes lined back up with Arthur’s, he saw some puzzlement, and he exhaled, “I don’t want to hear that you’ve come here to tell me that _they’ve_ told you to speak to me, to fix… whatever. I haven’t waited a week and a half to hear what Morgana thinks, because I already know.” He let out an aggravated noise, “I want to know what _you_ think. What have you spent a week and a half doing? You told me you needed time to think, so I want to hear what you’ve thought about.”

He watches Arthur closely, can see his mind working, wondering whether to open up; he understood he must still have issues from whatever Richard had put him through, but Merlin couldn’t spend the rest of his time trying to fix that.

Arthur’s head dropped, a long breath escaping the man’s lips before he brought it slowly back up, closing his eyes tightly, “I’m not so good at this.”

“Try,” Merlin spoke through gritted teeth.

Another sigh, and Arthur opened his eyes, “I know. I will.” And Merlin felt his own relief sweeping over him. The blonde nodded seriously and finally began, “I’m sorry it’s been a long time, but I had my work and then I was leaving, and it just became a lot.”

Merlin nodded, “I understand.” He was still hurt, but he could understand.

“But I know that I made a mistake, and I’m sorry for that, too.” Arthur rushed a hand through his hair. “I shouldn’t have said there was nothing going on, and I shouldn’t have waited this long to come and see you, to tell you…” His eyes met Merlin’s carefully, holding the stare, and Merlin felt his heart skip again for who knows what time that day. “I like you, I like spending time with you despite how annoying and clumsy you can be, and I like how I feel with you.” Merlin wondered if his heart could even take this, but he tried hard to keep his expression cool. A smile broke out on his face, though, and it was increasingly difficult to tamper down. “I wouldn’t mind giving it a go. Us. Dating.” Arthur finished, much more lamely than he started, but the escort had got the message.

Merlin grinned, “and it took you a week to figure that out?” He decided to say instead.

“Well, I’ve also been panicking about now being unemployed,” Arthur shrugged, falling nervously into the banter, and Merlin could see him eagerly waiting for his answer.

He nodded finally after a suspenseful few seconds, “I wasn’t sure I’d actually made my feelings unclear, but yes, I like you, too.”

“Oh, good,” Arthur let out in a breath, and there was a pause as the pair both properly digested everything that had just been said; Merlin found some humour in seeing different emotions cross Arthur’s face as he realised just how much he had confessed in such a short time, but it made him soften, too.

“I’m glad that you told me,” he assured him, which brightened Arthur’s smile. “But, there is more, Arthur.” Merlin’s eyes lost their delight as his mind soon turned practical, “I’ve been thinking, too. I know you were concerned about my job, and I can try and understand, but you need to know that I need to support myself and I’m _good_ at it. But it’s only a job, and that’s all it ever will be.”

Arthur shook his head quickly, holding a hand up, “no. No, Merlin, I know I made a mistake there, too. I don’t want you to leave the job, I don’t want you to change.”

Merlin eyed him suspiciously, but after a moment, Arthur’s eyes burrowing into him, he let out a sigh, and with it, all of the anxieties of his peculiar job. “I was thinking, though, I can take fewer clients, so I won’t be as busy.”

The other man shrugged, “take as many or as few as you choose, I trust you.” And he said it with such surety that Merlin’s smiled returned with a force.

A silence descended over them once more, but unlike before, there was no awkward, angry tension, but a nervous energy; Merlin thought it was strange, because in reality, they had been on what most people would consider to be proper dates. But, finally hearing it, from Arthur’s lips, that the man saw it that way too, it was like music to his ears.

After pushed himself up after a moment, moving slowly closer to Merlin as the tension rose, and a blush crept up the escort’s neck. He edged in closer, too, arms falling to his sides as he waited for some sign, something to push him forward. If Freya were here, she definitely would have done it. Arthur’s gaze dropped to Merlin’s lips, and he blushed more under the attention, but found himself staring back at the other man’s, the butterflies in his stomach doing twists and turns all over the place.

They were close enough now, possibly closer than they ever had been before. While Merlin was determined not to chicken out this time, like _all the other times before_ , he couldn’t bring himself to move, the confidence he wielded only minutes ago abandoning him.

Arthur rolled his eyes, “coward,” he muttered, before Merlin felt his hand grab at his collar, being the force that pulled him into the kiss, _finally._ He caught his breath finally, the surprise at the gesture melting away as Arthur’s hands settled on his neck, Merlin’s own finding their place on the man’s torso as their bodies melded together. The warmth against his lips, the tender movements of his partner, were just as he imagined they would be and more, and he released a quiet moan. Arthur chuckled, still in the kiss, and Merlin would have rolled his eyes.

They pulled away, panting, flushed, and Arthur hardly moved his face away, “can I see you tonight?” He whispered, tickling against Merlin’s cheek.

“Would you still be supportive if I said I had a job?”

Arthur seemed to consider, but shrugged, “I suppose.”

“Good,” Merlin grinned teasingly, raising an eyebrow, “but I don’t, so yes.”

Arthur shook his head in exasperation, but smiled, and Merlin found that stupid, real smile of his irresistible in the moment, pulling him in for a second time. Only to make up for what they had missed, of course.

“Merlin!” He heard Gaius shouting him again, “that room won’t clean itself!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that these two idiots finally getting their acts together was worth the wait!  
> The next chapter will be a sort of epilogue, and then this story will be concluded. I'm so grateful for your guys' support, and I hope you'll enjoy the final part of this story! :)


	22. Epilogue: True Love's Kiss

Arthur sat comfortably, lounging on his sofa as Morgana often reprimanded him for. Still, he was being rather productive, trying to create a CV, so he had something to tell her if she just walked in. Which was always a risk, he warned Merlin when the man offered to come round. Offered to come and _help him_ , he remembered, but right now was leaning against him quietly, so quiet in fact that Arthur had thought he might be sleeping, but he was definitely reading his book. Definitely.

“You were supposed to be helping me,” Arthur complained, staring at the screen in front of him with a horrible feeling. It wasn’t exactly hatred, but… “not ‘reading’,” he emphasised with air quotes, and Merlin shoved back from him, trying to appear insulted. They both know he was sleeping, though.

“I can’t help it if job stuff tires me out,” the man shrugged, emphasising his own point with a huge yawn, to which Arthur only rolled his eyes. Merlin ignored him, instead leaning against him again and shuffling to get closer, and while Arthur showed some contempt for it, watching his partner with weary eyes the whole time it took him to get settled, the image of it all, the feel of it, made him warm inside. It was a comfort he had never really experienced before, especially not with Richard, having someone not just warming a side of the bed, but lazily sitting with him and doing absolutely nothing.

Not that he would ever admit any of this to Merlin. Maybe in a moment of weakness, but not right now. Not when the man was supposed to be helping him figure out his skills, rather than falling asleep.

“It’s late,” the escort sighed, “why don’t we come back to it tomorrow?”

Arthur put a hand over his forehead, “we said that yesterday, _Mer_ lin, and here we are!”

“Well, maybe you should just accept that you have no skills.”

“Then what role would you have in this relationship?” He smiled as he heard Merlin huff a little laugh.

“Maybe being the world’s biggest dollop-head counts as a skill,”

“If you can get a job then clearly I don’t _need_ skills.” Even the strange exchanges they had where they just purely insulted each other, Arthur liked. He had never thought this would be him, settling down, but he could hardly imagine any other life anymore. He blamed Merlin for that. “You made me quit my job, you have to help me.”

“What?” Merlin sat up then, speaking louder than before with a baffled smile as he stared at Arthur with confusion, “I didn’t _make_ you do anything, you just grew a back bone!” He shook his head, “or Morgana gave you one,” he muttered, and Arthur narrowed his eyes at him. Merlin had become irritatingly immune to that stare, though.

Arthur dropped his head back against the wall behind them, staring up at the ceiling as he moaned, “why am I with you?”

He could practically hear Merlin’s grin as the man shuffled closer to him, “because you _love_ me.”

Sighing, he brought his head back up to look at the idiot escort with the most perfect grin he had ever seen, with the most pixy-looking nose, with the biggest ears, with the strangest sense of humour; damn, he thought, he really did.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he huffed, but the twitch of a smile gave him away, and Merlin’s only grew wider.

“I love you, too,” the escort said kindly, as if the words easily came to him.

Arthur stared at him with a bewilderment, that this man was somehow even more courageous than him; every part of him is pushing him to say something to move the moment on, to not expose himself emotionally, a fear tampered but still there. He finds a strength in Merlin’s shared stare, though, his presence, and says seriously, “I do. Love you,” and Merlin smiles a softer smile, because he knows it was hard for Arthur to say, but he won’t tell him so, and Arthur appreciates that.

“Why has it taken you so long to write the thing, anyway?” Merlin frowns, moving away from the moment so Arthur doesn’t have to, so he doesn’t feel guilty if he does. “You’ve been unemployed for how long now, exactly?”

Arthur shrugs, “I had savings, I felt a break was needed.”

Merlin huffs, pushing himself off the sofa, and Arthur looks forlornly at the empty space, already missing his warmth beside him. “A break? When do I get one of those?” Arthur watched the escort as he stumbled tiredly into the kitchen, losing view of him but still staring at the doorway.

“Why did I quit my job again?” He shouts to him, ignoring Merlin’s own complaining for now. There are days when he will listen to Merlin tell him about each different job of his, about all of the chores Gaius is having him do, – the man who still frightens Arthur just a little; Merlin thinks it’s probably the eyebrow – about the new research he has to start on, which Arthur offers to try and take up but Merlin just stares at him until he admits he’s just bored, and about all the events he goes on. Jealousy still stirs in him at the mention, and Merlin didn’t even bring up the dates at first for a while, but when he hears the snorts of Merlin’s laughter, sees his eyes light up as he tells him some historical fact Arthur needs a lot more background knowledge to understand, when he tells him he loves him, Arthur knows Merlin is his, and he is Merlin’s.

Unfortunately, Merlin is less compassionate when it comes to Arthur’s complaints about unemployment. It might not have helped that he did take quite a long break, but still. He needed to get his father’s voice out of his head, and annoying his partner as the days went by really helped that.

“Because you have something called integrity?” Merlin appeared at the doorway, leaning against the frame with a hot drink in his hand, “or am I dating the wrong person?”

Arthur ran a hand through his hair, “maybe not, but I probably am.”

Merlin smirks, offering that huff of laughter again, the one that Arthur knows is tired laughter, that Merlin is too sleepy to offer any insult, and it feels good that he knows it.

“Maybe,” a mischievous smirk slides across his face, and with a glint in his eye he says, “I could do what you do. I think I’d make quite a good escort,”

And he swears Merlin stands a little straighter, eyes widening, more awake than before at his words, and he feels a spark of amusement run through him that he never felt with others. “Actually, I think I’d make a _great_ escort,” he continues his tease as Merlin eyes him sceptically.

“You wouldn’t,” Merlin shrugs.

“Perhaps you’re just worried that I’d take your clients from you,” he reasons, “you do, after all, look like a stoat.”

Merlin’s eyebrows draw in then, a perplexed smile coming in, “is that an insult? Stoats are adorable, have you ever seen an ugly stoat?” Arthur said nothing, unable to respond to that. Maybe he did find his partner adorable. It didn’t mean he also didn’t find him irritating at times. “At least I don’t look like a bone idle… toad,” Merlin adds, a yawn causing him to pause, although Arthur believes it’s not his tiredness that causes the rather poor insult, because Merlin’s just bad at that.

“You’re saying I look like a toad?” His face scrunches in half confusion, half amusement.

“Yeah, and maybe one day you’ll magically transform into a handsome prince,” Merlin grins happily, tiredly. Damn, did he ever _stop_ being adorable?

“I don’t believe you,” Arthur shook his head. Then, raising an eyebrow, he stared at Merlin suggestively, “but, if you wanted to test your theory, isn’t it true love’s kiss that breaks such a spell?”

Merlin stood straighter again as Arthur winked.

Arthur was pleased when he took the hint.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here it is, finally the end! I actually hadn't realised how much time had passed until I looked at the original post date of this fic, and I'm just beginning to wonder what to do with my life now. This is my first multichapter fic that has actually been finished and has been this long, so I'm quite proud of it! I'm really glad so many of you have enjoyed it, and I have really appreciated all the kudos, bookmarks, and lovely comments from everyone! Writing the story was already fun to do, but you have all made it even more enjoyable, so thank you all so much! 
> 
> I'm excited to tell you that I do actually have a plan for something to occupy me, and that is yet another fic, of course! With a couple of uni assignments I won't be able to write it until June, but it's all planned out, so watch this space. It's going to be an AU, but canon era (so if you prefer modern, I understand haha), where Arthur meets Merlin outside of Camelot, and learns a few truths about magic. Here's a lil preview of a piece I've been working on for it, if you're interested:
> 
> _The sky is a haze of blue, fading around them as their focus drifts away from the clouds spattered across to give some rest from the heat of sun. It would be a nice view, were they paying attention to it. However, Merlin’s hand accidentally reaches over the one beside his, holding the other man so his back is off the ground, and their eyes lock momentarily on a different blue, each a different shade, but beautiful in their own right to the beholder. Birds can be heard chirping, but all these strangers, these accidental friends, hear is the sound of their own hearts, or maybe the other’s heart, beating, pounding, against their chest and the hand is no longer the issue. One pair of eyes fall, then, and the other follows its lead, and suddenly they are closer, maybe too close._
> 
> _“This is wrong,” Merlin whispers, staring at his desire, but possibly his mistake._  
>  _Arthur agrees, but still, they move in even closer, and the hand not holding Arthur up boldly moves across, slowly hovering over the other man’s cheek before he can even register it. When he does, there is something in him that wants to fight, but it is weaker than his aching, weaker than his drumming pulse. He whispers, “tell me to stop,” as he leans in, ever closer, and the hand now cups the cheek gently, a touch so gentle and careful that Merlin knew little of, that Merlin might never have associated with Arthur._
> 
> Anyway, once again, thank you all!


End file.
